The Curse of Six
by 50ShadesofGerardGay
Summary: Rex was once a wizard along with five of his evil friends. He wants to be human again and he knows six kids that will let him get what he wants. Plans don't normally go the way we want, and when his backfires the Victorious gang wakes up in different bodies. Now they have to race against time and evil puppets in order to get back to normal. Strap in, it's a heck of a ride.
1. Secrets

So while my power has been out, I've been re-writing this story to make it flow better. I hope you all enjoy it! There will definitely be a sequel coming out sooner or later.

Ps. This is dedicated to Maddi!

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><p>"<strong>Chapter 1 – Secrets"<strong>

_**~*Victoria*~**_

_Dear Diary,_

_ It's been a while hasn't it? I think my last entry was from four months ago, the day before my first day at HA (Hollywood Arts if you forgot). I'm sorry for not writing so often! Everything's just been so busy lately._

_ Anyway, I've got a secret that I can only tell __you__. Not even Cat—my best friend—can know. Before I get to the secret, I think I should let you know what's going on at LASSA since I haven't written in, like, __ever__:_

_ Day one was...something different to say the least. That day I met Caterina "Cat" Valentine, Robert "Robbie" Shapiro, Beck Oliver, and Jade West. I'd already known André Reynolds before since he had to help my sister Trina out with her Showcase performance, but you knew that. I made a new enemy that day: Jade. She got jealous when she saw me wiping coffee off her boyfriend after I'd accidently bumped into him and she poured her coffee all over me, trying to embarrass me in front of our class. But I got back at her, alright; I made out with her boyfriend, Beck, in front of our entire Improv class!_

_ So now I've gotten to my secret. I think I'm __in love__ with Beck Oliver. What's worse is that I'm dating __André__, but I don't have the guts to break things off with him. André's a great guy and everything—he's handsome, sweet, charming, and funny, everything I could ever ask for—but there's just something about Beck that drives me cuckoo. I just wish there were some way I could be with him, you know? Beck's just an amazing guy and anyone would be lucky to be with him. I wish I was as lucky as Jade. I wish I could stop leading André on like this._

_ But honestly, I don't see why Beck doesn't like me. Could it be that I'm not attractive like Jade? I like to think I am; I mean, my hair is as long as hers, but it's light brown not black. Her eyes are a shocking blue (sometimes green), but mine our brown. Her lips are kinda thin and mine are Hispanic-thick. I'd say we have the same cup size, but I'm a little skinnier. If she ever wore shorts or a skirt, I'm sure my legs would be as smooth and soft as hers. Sure, she's got a few more curves than me—definitely more blue streaks in her nearly straight hair than I do in my curled style—but should that matter? Why shouldn't (couldn't) Beck love me? We have a nice history too!_

_ Crap, I have to go. It's almost time for school and Trina's throwing a fit because she can't find her shoes. If she would've looked for them last night—even though all her shoes are in her bottomless pit of a closet—she would have been ready by now. So, I'll write to you soon!_

_-Torilovesyou(: XOXOXO_

I close my diary and quickly stuff it into my book bag before looking at my watch. "Trina!" I call up the stairs, reading the time. "Hurry up so we can go to school!" I sit on the couch waiting for my unruly and obnoxious sister. Trina is so, oh I don't have a word in any language for her! "I can't find my shoes!" she shouts back. "I don't even wanna go to school! Can't you go without me?" I rolled my eyes with an agitated sighed. "I'd like nothing more!" I shout angrily to her. Of course I can't go without her though; Mom will kill us both. "Go check in your closet!"

I hear a loud rumbling, along with a loud smash (I don't even want to _know_ what she broke), and Trina emerges from the top of the stairs wearing a topless, pink blouse over short shorts and her black stilettos. (I used to wonder how Mom let her walk out of the house like that, but then I realized: Trina doesn't care what anyone says to her. If she keeps that attitude up, things won't look so hot for her down the line if you know what I mean.)

"You need a new lamp," she announces as she trudges down the stairs. I look at my sister with a raised eyebrow. "Why were you—" I begin, then I stop myself. "Never mind, I don't want to know. Let's just go to school." Trina is hard to put up with sometimes; she's so…_ugh_!

_~*Five minutes later, I guess. I'm a fast driver*~_

I walk into the school with Trina behind me, yelling on the phone to her weekly prank-caller. "No I don't wanna buy any cheese you loser!" she shouts behind me. I narrow my eyes and cover my ears as I walk, my sneakers squeaking on the linoleum floor. "_Stop_ calling me you freak!" Trina puts up her phone and sighs loudly, causing a few people to look at us. "Can we go home now?" she groans, stomping her heels against the tiles. I roll my eyes. "We _just_ got here," I remind her monotonously.

Then I spot my friends hanging out at Beck's locker. "And _this_ is where I leave you." I quickly run up to them, leaving Trina behind. While running, I manage to trip over my own feet (a bad habit of mine when I wear sneakers) and bump into Jade. As she turns around to glare at me, I notice she's wearing her usual attire: black skinny jeans, a black blouse, and black boots; totally original. "Watch where you're going, Vega," she snarls with a scowl. I sigh and walk around her. "Sorry," I mutter. (Jade West was such a _bitch_; I don't know how Beck managed to date her for over three years….)

Cat runs up to me and hugs me tightly, the smell of strawberries floating from her deep red hair to my nose. She's 5'2, three inches shorter than I am. She wears her long, dyed hair down her back like she always does and wears a bright pink dress with black leggings and ballerina flats. She also wears a little pink bow on her black elastic headband. "Hey, Tori," she greets in her normally high voice. I smile back; one of the reasons I love Cat Valentine is because she's bubbly and adorable. "Hey, Cat," I greet back.

I nod to André and Robbie who stand by Beck. He stands with his back against the lockers while Robbie holds his puppet, Rex, and stands close to Cat. (I _hate_ Robbie's puppet. Not only is it creepy, but Robbie always say dirty things to all the girls at school with the thing. He even has this special voice that he uses for Rex! That and he refuses to let anyone call Rex a puppet…)

André wears a long-sleeved black button up with the sleeves rolled up to his elbows over boot cut blue jeans while Robbie wears a blue turtleneck and super skinny blue skinny jeans; Robbie always wears turtlenecks.

Beck looks extremely sexy today in his blue jeans a button-up similar to André's only light blue and with a black silk vest over it. "Hey guys," I greet. The boys say hey back to me, André slightly more enthusiastic since he's my boyfriend. Then, my eyes focus on Beck. I try not to, but I just know there's a heavy sign of flirt in them; I mean…Beck Oliver is like a _god_. His delicious dark brown hair comes to the nape of his neck and slightly falls over gorgeous hazel eyes. His lips are full (but not full to the extent that they look like girl lips) and his skin has a delectable tan to it. His body…God, his body is _amazing_ to say the least; it isn't a surprise all the girls swoon over him—except Cat because Beck's like a second brother to her.

"Hey, Beck," I greet with a shy smile and a soft voice.

Jade catches a glimpse of me and my flirty eyes—my stupid flirty eyes—and scowls again. "I'm outta here," she spits venomously. She turns and starts walking away; she purposely rams my shoulder as she walks, but I try not to make a sound. "Jade!" Beck calls out to her. "Leave me alone!" she shouts back. Now everyone in the hallway is looking at her as Beck sighs and stays with the rest of us; he knows when to leave Jade alone when she's having a bad day, and today seems like a _bad_ day.

_**~*Jade*~**_

I _hate_ Tori. I hate her _so_ much! She's nothing but a boyfriend stealing _whore_.

I don't run. With crossed arms, I fast-walk to my favorite hide out spot in one of the old, run-down drama rooms in the west wing of the school. That cobweb-infested, paint-peeled, dark and damp room is like a second home to me; sometimes it's a first, seeing as how I'd stored away a sleeping bag, pillows, and some of my favorite scenery from my room. I normally stay here when I feel suffocated by my pain-in-the-ass father or just want to get away from the world. The latter seems to come up the most nowadays.

I sit in my favorite corner—far from the door—atop one of the rolled out sleeping bags, and pull out my journal from my book bag. Now is the perfect time for me to write in my journal.

_October 10th, 2011, 7:50 AM_

_ Today is going to be one of my bad days; I can feel it. Last night, I found out the most shocking news that's definitely going to change everything. I don't know how I can tell anyone. How can I tell my friends, or my dad—I sure as __hell__ can't tell my mom—, or Beck for that matter? We've always been careful; we've always been cautious. I don't know __what__ I'm gonna do. It's a day like this I wish I were never born._

_ But I have to be born, I guess; I have to be alive so I can nourish the life inside me… But still, I don't know how I could tell Beck I'm pregnant... I mean, we've talked about kids before, but we both decided we don't want them until we're both well out of college and able to sustain a home. Last time I checked, college is a whole school year away. I hate when plans backfire._

_ I'm not afraid of many things, if anything at all, but I'm afraid he won't stay once I tell him. God, I hate this. I hate being pregnant and I hate feeling insecure. Beck's never seen me insecure, so I guess that's why I came to my special place; I can really relax here. And if anyone tries to come here, I'll break their face. But how do I tell him? __How__? I love Beck so much, but I'd never want to lose him because of a baby! I could lie to him and say everything's okay, but I could only hide a baby bump for so long. I don't know if I could go through the adoption process either. I'd never forgive myself if our baby wound up in a home like mine…_

_ I know I wouldn't feel this way if it weren't for __her__; she's the reason I'm so insecure. If not for Victoria goddamn Vega, I could tell Beck I'm pregnant and he wouldn't think twice about staying with me. I haven't liked Tori from the moment I met her; from day one, she was flirting with Beck. At first, I didn't think anything of it, though I did get back at her for doing so, but then she __kissed__ him! He claimed he didn't stop her because "it was part of the acting class," but he __looked__ like he enjoyed it. And then, when I broke up with him, he took forever to take me back! Normally, he wouldn't take as long as he did to get me back. I've noticed small changes in how Beck acts too. It's all because of Tori, Tori, Tori!_

_ I've always been against abortion, but your thoughts can change when it's you sitting on that toilet looking at a little pink plus sign. Put yourself in a pregnant woman's shoes and things change. But if I do decide to keep our baby, how can I possibly raise him or her if I'm always worrying about if Beck is going to leave me or not? I'm scared, and I feel like I have no one to turn to. I want to tell Cat, since she's been my like sister since we were five, but I don't know if I can tell her. I love her to death but I don't think she could handle something like this; she can barely handle the stuff in her life, especially with the divorce._

_ Christ, there's the bell. Back in my bag you go. As much as I'd like to stay here and cry my eyes out until I feel better, I can't afford another phone call home saying I skipped class; Daddy dearest won't be too pleased. I'll try to hide how I feel, but I don't know how long that'll last. Here's hoping for the best even though it never comes._

_-Gem_

I sigh and shove my black, skull-covered journal into my book bag then get up. I slip out of the room unnoticed and make my way back to the east wing so I could get to class. On the way, I spot Cat at my locker, probably waiting for me—or Robbie since his stupid locker is two stupid lockers away from mine. When she sees me, she quickly runs up to me and hugs me tightly, not saying a word and burying her head in my shoulder. At first I'm surprised when she does—I'm not used to hugs, even if they're from her—but I'm quick to hug back. I know something's wrong and I want to let her know she can talk to me like she always does.

"Are you okay, Cat?" I question. She nods, keeping her head on my shoulder. Though her arms are still around me, I feel her shift, as if she secretly wiped her eyes; when she ran up to me, I saw her mascara was running. "I'm fine," she lies; her voice is still high, but it's low in depression.

She pulls away from me and fakes a smile. "Are you ready for the movie marathon after school?" she asks with genuine wonder. I give a warm smile and nod. "I've got some of my scariest movies in my bag," I announce proudly. "I'm still staying over with you right?" Cat nods. "My parents are out of town for a while so my brother's taking care of me," she states. (Tony's a weird kid, but I don't mind hanging around him; he's cool… in a weird sort of way I guess.)

Then, the bell rings. "Let's go," Cat says grabbing my arm, her voice slightly lifting. Together, we walk to our first period class. Once in class, I take my seat on the edge of the room and start working on some math homework while Cat takes her seat by the window; it's stupid that an _arts_ school still has to do math.

_**~*Cat*~**_

_Hi again, haha!_

_ Did you miss me? I missed you... You're the only one I can talk to! Especially today...I can't even tell__ Jade__ what I'm about to tell you and __she's__ my best friend. I'm so upset! I don't know what to do!_

_ Sigh..._

_ Things aren't the same anymore. My parents are having one of their bad times and I don't know if they'll get out of it! My brother says Mommy and Daddy are fine, but I hear them arguing at night. Sometimes they talk about a...__divorce__. I don't want my mommy and daddy to get divorced! They're going on some couples' retreat thing so hopefully they'll stop screaming at each other every night. _

_Sometimes when they fight, they scream about my brother and me and it makes me really upset. (They talk about how he ruined their lives 'cause Mommy got pregnant with him at a really young age and they talk about how they hate me because she got pregnant with me when Tony was six; she kept screaming about how she was going to leave my dad when Tony was eighteen. He's twenty-four…) _

_Sometimes when I get upset, I don't eat; food just makes me sick when I look at it. I started to not eat at home...but now I don't even eat at school or anywhere else. I just...don't feel the need to eat anymore. I guess it's better than cutting myself like the people in Jade's books do. I'm too scared to hurt myself like that though._

_ And… I've been really upset lately. I just don't know what to do. You know how much I like Robbie. But I have a really, really, __really__ bad problem. I never told you this, but I...think I love my best friend! I thought I only liked boys, but a week ago...I started having feelings for Jade. They were more than just regular friend feelings! I...I think I like her as much as I like Robbie...and I __really__ like Robbie. I don't know what I'm gonna do... I'm just so worried and sad... I keep thinking about Jade kissing me like she kisses Beck, with her hands running up my body and mine running up hers. I see us doing really…__bad__ things. Gosh, I feel so dirty! I wish I didn't have these thoughts._

_ I've never told you this either, but my hair's not really red! I only dye it like a red velvet cupcake because I get scared that if I keep my hair brown like it normally is, I'll turn out like my mom! People say I look a lot like her, except my hair is really red and hers is light brown. People say I have my dad's eyes, so that doesn't make me feel so bad. I know my daddy loves me, even if Mommy doesn't. I just feel like if I look like my mom, I'll act like my mom. I'm terrified of getting pregnant at seventeen and having to get married really early! I'm terrified of becoming an alcoholic and being forced to do something I hate because I can't have a real job! Sometimes I wish she wasn't my mother…_

_ Oh...There's the bell. I can't write to you in my next class because I need to focus on my singing. I'll talk to you soon though, I promise. You're my closest friend in the world._

_Love always,_

_Kitty_

I close my notebook and put it in my bag then walk with Jade to my next class, trying to be happy and hiding my feelings for Jade; I feel horrible, being so close to her and wanting to be with her, because I know I won't be able to do anything about it! But…the way her body feels next to mine drives me crazy; the way our skin touches as we lock arms sends shivers up and down my body. I want to tell her how I feel…but I don't know how she'll handle it or if she'll even understand! I'd die if Jade stopped being my friend. I've known her for so long…

As we walk, I spot Robbie in the hallway at his locker and I look to him with sad eyes. He looks back at me with really sad eyes, too. I want to stop and talk to him, but I can't be late for class. I have a singing exam next week and I need all the practice I can get.

So, Robbie has this really creepy puppet that he calls Rex Powers (because Robbie thought it was cool) and it kinda looks like Robbie; Rex has curly black hair and big brown eyes. He always wears these little blue jeans that I think are cute since they're on a puppet and a red shirt with a mean face on it. Robbie carries Rex everywhere, and no one really likes Rex because "he's" rude; Jade says it's really Robbie saying the dirty things that Rex says because puppets can't do anything by themselves.

But as we walk, Rex's eyes seem to follow me as I walk with Jade down the hall; I didn't even know his eyes _could_ move! His puppet was so creepy! I can't tell Robbie I hate Rex, though…

I quickly look away from Robbie and start walking faster with Jade. I _have_ to get away from creepy Rex! Robbie sighs, shuts his locker, and I hear him walk away as he goes to his next class at the other end of the school.

I think I hurt his feelings…

_**~*Robbie*~**_

As I sit in my Instrument Appreciation class, I can't help but think about Cat—among other things. I can't take my mind off of her; she's my angel…even though she isn't mine. I don't know what's wrong with me! Cat and I have known each other for years and I'm sure she can see I really like her, that I love her. I've always shown her that, so what's going on? Why can't she love me like I love her? Cat's always been my first love, and I don't think I could love anyone the way I love her. I'm not so sure I want to. She's amazing…

But, what if she _doesn't_ want to be with me? Maybe that's why we're not together. I mean...who would? I'm seventeen, a Junior in high school, and I can't even talk for myself; I can't even find it in myself to ask the girl I love out on a simple date! I tell everyone Rex isn't a puppet, but I know he is; he's nothing more than a two foot tall ventriloquist dummy with curly black hair, scary brown eyes, and a hollow face that always wears a long-sleeved red shirt over blue jeans. I share what I really feel through Rex because people just think it's just part of my ventriloquist practice; they don't know that's how I actually feel. I...just wish I could be honest with everyone and be who I make Rex out to be. I wish I could be the snarky, cool, funny guy Rex is. I'm such a loser.

Rex could _definitely_ ask Cat out on a date.

I love Cat, but I don't think I could let her get too close to me, not to my baggage. Maybe she'll see my _faults_; maybe she'll see the _cuts_ on my arms and the _burns_ on my chest my father gave me before he went to jail. Maybe she'll see the bruises my mother left me when she died of cancer when I was only _ten_; she knew my mom had died, but she doesn't know the extent of my depression. But, could I tell her? Maybe she'll run away from me and I'll lose her forever. I don't think I could live with myself if I let Cat get away from me again. I really, really love her. I think that's why I never "let" Rex make crude, sexual remarks like he does when he hits on Tori and Jade.

I need to hurry and ask her out before she gets away from me forever. I almost lost her once; I don't know if I could lose my redheaded angel again...

It's hard to tell someone you love them, especially when you've known them basically all your life. And when you've almost lost your chance with them before, you get worried that you'll lose them forever, so there's a lot of pressure put on you. Sometimes, the best way to tell someone you love them—if you're a chicken like me and can't do it face to face—is to write a note.

I decide I'll write Cat a note to tell her everything and give it to her at the end of the day, so I reach down into my bag to pull out my notebook when something bites me. "Ow!" I yell out, holding my hand. "Robbie?" comes the teacher's worried voice. "Are you okay?" The whole class looks at me. I just hold my hand and stare at it for a moment before I look back to him. What could have bit me?

"Uh, yeah," I lie, "I think I just cut myself on something sharp like a loose nail or something." A lot of the chairs are old and broken, so it's a pretty reasonable excuse. The teacher still looks worried though. "Do you think you need to go to the nurse, Robbie?" he questions. I don't know why he bothers; he doesn't really care what happens to me. No one does. "No, Mr. Marsh," I answer calmly. "I'll be fine."

Mr. Marsh nods with a not so worried expression on his face then goes back to talking about the proper way to play an oboe. Like anyone cares. When he looks away, I look back to my injured hand. The back of it has two small punctures on it, a little apart from each other, which look like someone had poked it with two really sharp knitting needles. Or like a vampire. But what would a vampire be doing in my bag? Then again, what would knitting needles be doing in my bag?

Before I can think of anything else to explain the bite, I start feeling lightheaded. The room starts spinning and I feel like the world is trying to pull me down into it. I want to raise my hand to ask Mr. Marsh if I can go to the nurse, but I only get it about half-way up before I pass out.

I remember my head hitting the desk loudly and a few girls screaming. Luckily, André and Beck share a class with me and they ran over to help get me to the nurse along with Mr. Marsh. I remember feeling someone's hand on my forehead and Mr. Marsh exclaiming: "He's burning up!" It was true; my body felt like it was on fire! I felt like I was in an oven set to 8 bazillion degrees. I remember André saying: "We'll get him to the nurse, Mr. Marsh," and I assumed he and Beck picked me up.

Then I heard the bell ring, but that was it.

_**~*André*~**_

Honestly, I was a little scared when Robbie passed out in Instrument Appreciation class. I didn't know what was going on with him, but I knew it was the right thing to do by helping him up to the nurse. When he passed out, I told our teacher, Mr. Marsh, that Beck and I would take him to the nurse and I grabbed Robbie's stuff along with his freaky puppet, Rex. (I swear to God, I never liked that puppet; it's too creepy for words.) I also helped Beck carry Robbie out the room, but the bell rang as soon as we got out the door, giving Tori, Cat, and Jade the chance to see him like that.

Cat gasps then lets out a shriek, running up to us with Tori right behind her, a worried look on her face; Jade stays behind, leaning against a locker and peering at us from afar. Jade doesn't run, and she also doesn't get scared.

"What happened?" Cat exclaims in fear. It's Beck who answers her. "He got upset because he hurt his hand in class," he begins, "The next thing we knew, he passed out. There's no blood on his hand and he had a fever, so he's probably just sick. We're gonna go drop him off at the nurse and check up on him later." Cat gently rubs her fingers over Robbie's shoulder with a sad expression. "Can I go with you guys?" she pleads quietly, keeping her eyes on Robbie's pained expression. His long curly hair lays matted on his forehead, sweat beading in several places. His face is slightly flushed and his breathing is shallow. Honestly, it hurts me to see how hurt Cat looks. She's too innocent of a person to have that happen to her, or Robbie for that matter. I know it must kill her to see Robbie in such bad shape; she is, however, strong when she needs to be and doesn't let the threatening tears fall. Beck nods, but Cat doesn't see. "Sure," he replies quietly.

Tori doesn't bother asking if she can come with; she just starts walking with us, just a small distance behind us. She looks to me and puts her hands on my shoulder that holds Robbie's bag. I look down at the painted red nails that sit upon my blue shirt. "Here," she offers, "Let me take that." Carefully, I slip the bag off without dropping Robbie and she takes it, placing it on her own shoulder.

As she walks beside Robbie in front of me, I can't help but smile to myself; I'm always happy whenever I'm around her. I love her, man, more than anything and I know deep in my heart that she feels the same for me. She's such a beautiful girl with her button nose and bright brown, almond-shaped eyes and long, silky brown hair that falls to the small of her back.

Tori's a Latina angel.

Today, I have something special planned for my angel. Today is a memorable day for me in all the wrong ways; Tori doesn't know this, but ten years ago, my parents were killed in a school shooting because they just had to be in the right place at the wrong time. I was only seven when they died, so I don't remember much about them. I've lived with my grandma ever since, but she's not too right in the head so it isn't the same as living with my parents. But I'm going to bring a new meaning to this day, to erase the hurt of losing them. I won't forget them, but I'll try to forget the hurt. Only Tori can help me do that; I know it.

I'm going to propose to her today after school. I have a strong feeling she'll say yes, but I can only hope.

After all, it's now or never.

_**~*Beck*~**_

I was worried when Robbie passed out in class, but I wasn't too worried. I mean, he's somewhat my friend, so I _did_ care. I would've cared if he _wasn't_ my friend, but that's a different story. When the girls came up to me and André carrying Robbie, _that's_ when I started to get a little more worried; Victoria worries me most of all. I don't have problems with anyone, but my problem with Victoria is that I think I have feelings for her. Worse yet, I _know_ she has feelings for me; even Jade knows. I'm a mess when Victoria comes into the equation. I mean, I love Jade! There's no doubt about that. I've been in love with her for four years now and I've gone through great lengths to prove to myself that Jade loves me back. But with Victoria, she's just as beautiful as Jade—maybe more—and she's really funny, not that Jade isn't.

Victoria is the exact opposite of Jade; she's always happy—though not as bubbly as Cat—she's got a delightful Latina accent, she's smart, and she just...I don't know; there's just _something_ about her that draws me to her. And…I'm the only person besides her parents that call her Victoria; personally, I think her real name is better than her nickname. She only lets _me_ call her "Victoria".

Not even André calls her by her real name.

So that's where the problem is: how is it I can feel so much for Jade _and_ Victoria? Honestly, I see myself with Victoria, having a life with her, but I see the same with Jade. I see myself eventually raising a child with both of them and I see how our lives would be once we graduated college; with Victoria I see us both being well-known and talented actors, whereas I see Jade being the lead singer of some band while being a director and me still being a famous actor. In both lives, I see myself happy with each girl. But even if I wanted to be with Victoria, could I really find it in myself to break up with Jade after all that we've been through? Could I throw away all the memories and the laughter and the moments we've shared together for someone she hates? Jade and I have done so much together; she wasn't my first kiss or my first girlfriend, but she was my first time and I was hers. I've been there for her with the stuff going on with her parents and I tell her everything. Victoria and I haven't had _nearly_ as many memories as Jade and I have, but do I want to make new memories with Victoria?

I think about all of this as we carry Robbie to the nurse's office and we're there before I know it. Nurse Hatchet comes running up to us when she sees Robbie passed out in mine and André's arms. "Oh my, oh my!" she exclaims. Her voice is as brittle as her hair in her old age and she reminds me of my grandmother who died before I left Canada—my home country. "What's happened to the poor boy?" Nurse Hatchet has a fading Irish accent, but it's still evident. "We think he might have a fever and passed out from stress," I answer calmly.

Nurse Hatchet waves her hand, signaling where to take him. "Follow me children," she orders. "Put him here on the bed and I'll take a look at him." André and I lift Robbie onto the small cot lined with sheets and pillows and we stand around him. "Could you please wait in the office for me?" Nurse Hatchet asks after taking a look at us as well as Cat and Victoria; I assume Jade has gone to class. She doesn't care for Robbie that much. We nod and all walk back to the office, Cat and Victoria sitting in the waiting chairs while André stands by Victoria and I stand by Cat.

As I stand there with André and the girls waiting for Robbie, I can't help but think about anything besides Victoria or Jade. I think of my first kiss with Victoria and my first kiss Jade. I think of the fun I've had with Jade, our first date, our first kiss, our first anniversary… It would be hard to let all that go.

But Victoria…I have this need to protect her, to cherish her, to love her like no one else can… Jade, she's tough and independent and that's what I love about her; she doesn't need me to protect her every moment of every day. But Victoria, she's sweet and innocent—not as innocent as Cat, but innocent enough—and she needs someone to take care of her. I just can't help but feeling André can't do that for her.

I didn't know choosing Jade or Victoria would be the least of my worries; I didn't know how much danger we were about to face.


	2. Ritual

Dedicated to Maddi

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><p>"<strong>Chapter 2-<strong> **Ritual"**

_**~*André*~**_

In Nurse Hatchet's office, Victoria didn't really pay me much attention; she showed Cat attention, but not me. I didn't take it too hard though, because I knew Cat needed the love and reassurance. We all knew how she felt about Robbie, so we knew she needed a shoulder to lean on. Victoria's was just closer.

But ten minutes after we took Robbie to the nurse, Nurse Hatchet decided he could go home. I offered to take him home, that way I can spend some time collecting myself without worrying with school so I can be prepared for when I pop the question to Tori.

Robbie and I say a quick goodbye to everyone and I try to give Tori a kiss. She turns her head so that I kiss her cheek. That stung…

"So what happened back there, Robbie?" I ask as I drive him home. He sits with his head leaning on the window with sad eyes. He simply shrugs in response. "I don't know," he sighs out. He lifts his head off the window and looks to me. His eyes are bloodshot and his face is deathly pale. "I just reached into my bag and something bit me. Then I felt really sick and really dizzy. I don't really know where the bite came from." I raise an eyebrow but keep my eyes on the road. "How do you _not_ know what bit you?" I question, keeping my eyes on the road. Somethin's fishy here. "The bite looked like two little punctures," he tells me, "Like little needles. But…there wasn't anything sharp in my bag. The only thing that could have bit me was Rex, but he doesn't have sharp teeth; I don't really think he has teeth."

"You don't know what I got!" Rex exclaims from his spot in the backseat. He's sitting on top of Robbie's back pack, staring at the dashboard with those hollow painted eyes of his. (I didn't even see Robbie's lips move; he's a good ventriloquist!) "Be quiet, Rex," Robbie shouts, turning around to face his puppet. "No one's talking to you."

"You're still talking _about_ me, Samberg!" Rex shouts angrily. "I don't enjoy this." It's a little weird how Robbie had arguments with his puppet... "I told you to stop calling me that!" Robbie cries. "I'm not Andy Samberg!" He pulls Rex from the backseat and into his lap. "Why do you have to be so mean to me?"

I swear I saw Rex's eyes move and look up to Robbie...

"Why do you have to be such a loser?" he retorts. Robbie sighs and his eyes gloom. "Cut it out," I order when we pull up to a red light. I stare at them both with harsh eyes; it's so _stupid_ of Robbie to let a puppet talk to him like that…even if it isn't really the puppet saying anything. Rex's head turns to me. "Mind your own damn business, Dread Locks," he spits. I grimace then looked to Robbie. "Cut it out, Robbie," I demand. "It ain't funny anymore."

Robbie looks to me with shocked eyes. "I didn't say anything!" he protests, "I swear!" I roll my eyes and continue driving once the light turned green. "Why don't you put that damn puppet away?" I suggest. "Why don't you put yourself away—" Rex challenges in a voice that's different from the one Robbie projected through him; it's deeper and darker. "—_Nigger_?"

I slam my foot on the break and mine and Robbie's bodies lurch forward, held back by the seatbelts. Rex falls into the floor. Luckily, we're at Robbie's house and there are no cars behind us.

_No one_ calls me that; I'm about to put up with racist bullshit, especially from a goddamn puppet. It was because of racism that my parents fucking died. Robbie _knew_ that.

"What the hell is your problem, Robbie?" I shout inside the car. "What gives you the right to call me that? I thought we were supposed to be friends. I outta beat your ass right here and now!" Robbie holds his hands up in wide-eyed fear. "I swear to God I didn't say it!" he cries out. "You know I'd never say that to you or anyone else."

I scowl at him and return to my original position, my eyes narrowed at the road in front of us; Robbie's driveway is in the upper right corner of my eye. "Do you need any help getting in?" I question, ignoring what he said. Before my grandma lost her mind, she taught me to always be nice to people, even when they weren't to me. "I think I can get in okay," Robbie replies sheepishly. Gingerly, he opens the door and climbs out. His legs start to wobble and he reaches for the door, but his hand barely misses it and he falls onto the pavement with a thud.

With an annoyed sigh, I get up out of the car and open the backdoor to grab his stuff out. I walk around the car and grab Rex by his foot, holding him upside down. Then I offer Robbie my hand and pull him up from the ground. "Thanks," he says with his eyes on his feet. I mutter a small "you're welcome" and walk him up to his house. He grabs his keys from his pocket and unlocks the door so I can help him into his bedroom. Once inside, I drop Rex and Robbie's bag on the floor by his bunk bed and help Robbie onto the bottom bunk.

"I'm going back to school," I announce without feeling; I'm trying to calm myself down. "I'll come back after school to check up on you." Robbie smiles weakly at me. "Thanks, André," he thanks. He opens his mouth to say something else, but pauses.

"I…I'm sorry," he finally says after a few moments.

I shrug it off again and turn to leave. "Wait," Robbie calls before I leave the room. I turn back to him with a raised eyebrow. "Could you put Rex in his bed for me?" I roll my eyes and walk back into the room to scoop Rex up by his foot. I toss him up on the top bunk. It's stupid that Rex "forced" Robbie to sleep on the bottom bunk. But as I'm about to let go of Rex's leg, something bites me. I don't see what it is since the bed is an inch or two higher than my head. I scream in pain and end up pulling Rex with me by his ankle. Rex falls to the floor with a thud and rolls under the bed.

"What happened?" Robbie asks me frantically as he shoots up in his bunk. He ends up shooting up too fast, causing him to hit the bottom of the top bunk, so he ends up falling back on his bed and holding his head in pain. "Your stupid puppet bit my hand is what happened!" I yell. "I'm not a puppet!" Rex cries out in that deep voice that isn't Robbie's from under the bed.

My hands shoot to my head and I put my knuckles to my temples; I feel lightheaded. "I don't feel so good," I announce. My voice comes out weak and strained and I feel myself stagger back and forth. I reach out for Robbie's chest of drawers to steady myself, but I end up knocking everything off of it as I fell to the floor.

I remember Robbie shouting my name before I passed out.

_**~*Cat*~**_

It's been two hours since I sat waiting for Robbie in the nurse's office and no one has seen André since. I'm getting upset! Tori and I decide to sit outside in the Tar Café like we normally do at lunch to take our minds off things. One time, my brother got really drunk and ended up driving his car through the Tar Café; our parents had to pay a lot of money to get everything fixed!

There are some things you just can't stop thinking about though...

"Do you think Robbie's okay?" I ask worriedly, staring at her with sad, nervous eyes. I don't even bother touching my burger. Tori plays with her salad, rolling her lettuce around. One time, my brother bought a head of lettuce at the grocery store, but then he did some really bad things with it and our family isn't allowed to go back there anymore; that place smelled like apples. "I don't know," she sighs looking at her tray. "He didn't look too good, but I'm sure he's probably okay."

Then, Beck and Jade walk over to the table and sit down with us. Tori looks up from her salad and smiles at Beck as he sits down. But it's one of those smiles that you send to people you have a crush on! Everyone says I smile to Robbie like that…

"Hey, Beck," she greets. Beck smiles warmly back at her. "Hey, Victoria," he returns. Jade doesn't look too happy about them and she does this thing—oh what's the word? Robbie says it all the time!—_glowers_ (that's it!) at Beck and Tori. With a sudden movement, she grabs Beck's face, pulls it to hers, and kisses him deeply in front of Tori. I gasp because Jade had never done anything like that before and Tori looks like she's about to cry!

Then Beck pulled away from Jade, shooting up from the table. "What are you doing?" he asks infuriated. His eyebrows are low and he looks really mad! "I'm tired of you flirting with Tori!" Jade answers honestly; she looks just as mad as he does. One time, my brother got so mad that he threw toilet paper all over this one guy's house and set his backyard on fire; he didn't go to jail though because the guy was too afraid of my brother to press charges.

"I'm not flirting with Tori!" Beck shouts back at Jade. Everyone gathers around and stares at us, wondering what was going on. Tori's starting to look upset, but she's trying really hard to keep it to herself. "You keep making googly eyes with her!" Jade accuses. Her nose starts flaring and it looks a little funny. "I was not!" Beck denies. His eyes are really angry and a little hurt. "What's wrong with you? Why do you always think I'm trying to cheat on you? You know if I wanted to be with someone else, I'd at least have the decency not to run around behind your back!"

Jade is appalled—I think that's a word—because those definitely aren't the right words for him to say. "What's wrong with _me_?" she repeats loudly; she shoots up from her seat on the bench. "I'll tell you what's wrong with me! I'm sitting here watching you flirt with Tori—and you're not even going behind my back with it—and it's really making me wonder if you'll even be there for me when I need it; if you're always running around with other girls, there's no way I can be sure you'll be there to support our child!"

Then Jade's face looks shocked and she slowly sits back down, not looking at anyone, but staring at the table with dark eyes. They're closed like she's trying not to cry. I've never seen Jade cry, so I don't know if she's _actually_ gonna cry.

Everyone gasps—even me and Tori. Beck falls back onto his seat wide-eyed, his mouth hanging open. If I were Jade, I wouldn't have said that because that's a scary thing to point out to everyone. Everything is quiet while we wait for Beck to say something, like the world is on mute. "When...when were you gonna tell me?" he asks, not looking at her. His voice sounds like he's stuck in a tunnel. One time when my brother took me on vacation away from our parents, we went in this big cave which was like a tunnel and I yelled inside it and my voice echoed through it until it faded out; it was like there were a hundred Cats in there!

Jade sighs and puts her elbows on the table so she can rest her head in her hands. She keeps her eyes closed. "I wasn't planning on telling you like this," she confesses. Her fingers go up into her hair and she pulls it tightly, squeezing her eyes tightly shut. "I just...I didn't know when I was gonna tell you. I didn't _want_ to tell you, especially not in front of Tori and Cat."

"And half the school," Trina adds from the crowd. (Not a lot of people like Trina; she isn't a nice person and she always tries to ruin everything for everyone because she complains about everything and wants everyone to love her. I mean, I want people to love me because I'm afraid of being alone, but Trina is just…horrible.) Several people grab at her trying to shush her. Jade raises an eyebrow with a scowl and opens her eyes. They're really mean looking eyes. She turns around and sees everyone staring at her in fear. She's scary when she wants to be and everyone is afraid of her for that. "Get outta here!" she shouts. Everyone jumps at the loudness of her voice and starts to rush to leave. The others who were just looking at us and were already around us return to their food to continue eating like nothing had happened. Trina calls Jade a really bad word before she leaves, but I can't say it, not even in my head!

Jade turns back to Beck. "I don't know what to do," she tells him quietly. "I don't know if I can trust you to raise our child if you're gonna flirt with Tori." Beck gently grabs Jade's face and kisses her out of love, not the way she'd done it earlier. "I love you, Jade," he confesses. "I promise you I wasn't flirting with Victoria. I only love you, and I'll always be with you." Jade smiles at him with tears in her eyes and hugs him tightly, nestling her face in his shoulder. I almost thought they forgot we were there for a moment.

Then Beck looks to Tori while he hugged Jade and he frowned at her. I look up at Tori to see tears filling her eyes. He turns away from her sadness.

I don't really know what's going on…

Without another word, Tori gets up and walks away to finish eating her lunch in a classroom. I start to feel like a third wheel, so I get up and follow her, leaving Beck and Jade by themselves. I decide it'll be okay to have lunch with just Tori and we can be upset together.

My brother had a car with three wheels once, but he had to sell it when he went to jail for punching a cop.

_**~*Victoria*~**_

I sit in my last class of the day—Art Studies—thinking to myself while Cat practices her vocals. The teacher, Mr. Daniels, is sick today, so the class gets a free day; I hate free days because they give me too much time to think to myself. I sit with my head bowed, trying not to cry. I feel terrible! At lunch, Beck basically _threw me away_ like common trash! Me! I'm one of the nicest, prettiest, most talented girls at school, and he just doesn't _want_ me; I'm so much nicer than Jade, so why does he want her? He knows how much I like him and he knows how much that hurt me, but he _still said it_. On top of that, he's having a baby with Jade! That's like sticking a knife right in my back.

"Tori?" Cat calls, snapping me out of my thoughts. I look up to her with wide, taken aback eyes. "Class is over," she tells me. "We can go home now." I look around and see that the class is almost empty, save for a few people getting ready to leave. I quickly gather up my things and stand up. "Let's go check on Robbie!" Cat suggests with pleading eyes. I smile to her warmly; not only will going to see Robbie be good for her, it will also take my mind off Beck. And I _really_ needed to take my mind off him.

"Okay," I agree.

We head out to my blue Volkswagen with Cat going on about something about her weird brother, Tony, and I see Trina leaning against the passenger's door. "Get in the backseat," I demand of my sister, "We're gonna go see Robbie and Cat needs to ride in the front." She has these weird episodes where she freaks out if she has to sit in the back seat. "But I don't wanna go to Robbie's," Trina whines, stomping her foot. I narrow my eyes at her; she's so selfish sometimes. "Then stay inside the car," I advise as I get into the driver's seat. "But it's so hot," Trina continues to whine as she gets in the backseat and Cat in the front. "Then come inside!" I snap, turning around at glaring at Trina. Trina crosses her arms and leans back in her seat. "You didn't have to yell," she mumbles. I roll my eyes again and pull out of the parking lot.

We sit in the car quietly for the rest of the ride to Robbie's house because Trina pisses me off and Cat is afraid I'll yell at her too; I wish she would have said something though because I was once again left alone with my thoughts...

I think about my first day at school when Beck and I kissed, how his lips, skin, and every touch felt against mine, as well as the sheer happiness I felt. I think of my second day, when he offered to show me around school because I didn't know where I was going. I think of how he was there when my dog, Rascal, got hit by a car and how tightly he held me as I cried on his chest. I think of our trip to the water park—with Jade and the others of course—and how stunning he looked shirtless and dripping wet. I think of the things I wanted to do with him that day…

My thoughts are interrupted when I pull up to Robbie's house and see Jade and Beck climbing out of Beck's cherry red mustang. They look at us as we pull up and Jade crosses her arms in disdain. "I don't see why we have to be here," I see Jade mumble quietly, not taking her eyes off us; at least, that's what I think she said. "We're here because Robbie might need to know people care about him," Beck states; I hear him clearly, though he speaks lowly because I'm out of the car. "I know we're not close to Robbie but he sees us as his friends so we need to see how he's doing; it's only for a little while."

I look to Beck, to catch a glimpse of his lustful hazel eyes, but he turns away as soon as I do. "Hi Beck! Hi Jade!" Cat greets enthusiastically with a wide smile and her usual childish laughter. "Hey, Cat," Jade greets with genuine enthusiasm, her icy blue-green eyes filled with warmth. Beck gives her a nod with a small smile and Cat hugs Jade; Cat's one of the only ones who _could_ hug Jade without winding up in a _very_ unpleasant situation. No one bothers speaking to Trina; she doesn't bother speaking to us.

Without another word, the five of us head to the front door to check on our friend.

After climbing his obnoxiously large staircase, we notice Robbie's front door is slightly open. Then I remember that André's gray RAV-4 had been parked slightly down the street on the curb.

Beck, being the only man in our little group, holds out his arm to keep us from advancing; he ends up touching my forearm. The touch sends shivers down my spine, but I think I hid them well.

"Robbie?" he calls out. "Are you in here?" He steps forward and pushes the door open slightly. Then Cat pushes away from him and pushes the door open so she can run to Robbie's room. "Cat, wait!" Beck calls out to her; she ignores him. She throws open the door to Robbie's bedroom just as the rest of us had run inside—except for Trina; she causally walked to Robbie's kitchen to steal some of his food.

"Robbie?" she calls frantically. Then, something lunges at her from inside Robbie's room and knocked her out of our sight, a loud scream filling the room. "Cat!" Jade and I exclaim in unison. We both go running to Robbie's room, with Beck right behind us. Upon entering, the three of us are also attacked. The blows knock Beck and Jade out on impact, but I have enough consciousness left to hear Trina walking out of the kitchen and munching on something—probably a sandwich.

"Tori?" she calls out to me as she walks toward the room. "What was all that yelling?" The moment she steps into the room, a shadowed figure knocked her to the ground and knocks her out. I don't even get time to tell her to run away.

Then, I black out…

_**~*Jade*~**_

I'm pretty sure I'm the first to wake up. I look around and the room is dimly lit, but I can see Robbie's bed. I don't remember what hit me; all I knew is that I have a killer bump on my head. I try to move my hands from my sides to hold my head, but I can't. I struggle slightly before realizing I'm tied up. I edge along on the rug beneath my head and nudge the person next to me. There's a soft groan, and I know who it is.

"Cat," I hiss. She moves slightly on the rug, but her eyes stay closed. "Cat!" I hiss again. I nudge her harder with my knee this time. "No, Tony," she mumbles in her sleep. "I don't wanna ride the unicycle again." I roll my eyes and bite her shoulder.

"Ow!" she exclaims, startling herself from her sleep. Her head turns to me and I can see her wide eyes in the dark. "What was that for?" she asks loudly. "Shush!" I hiss once more. "Don't be so loud." Cat sniffles. "What was that for?" she whispers. "You needed to wake up," I tell her quietly.

I look around from my spot on the floor. "I don't know what's going on, but someone's got it out for us. Wake up whoever's next to you and tell them to do the same." Without another word, Cat kicks the person to her left. "Ow!" I hear Beck yelp. I see his semi-long hair swish around as he surveys his surroundings. "What's going on?" he questions. "We don't know," Cat whispers, "But wake up whoever's next to you."

I see Beck shuffle a bit and he's about to kick the person beside him when they hiss, "Don't kick me! I'm awake!" From what I can make out, it's Robbie; he'd probably been awake earlier than I had. I see him gently nudge someone to his left and that someone is definitely across the room from me. "W-what's going on?" Trina exclaims loudly. Those of us who are awake shush her. "Be _quiet!_" I hiss once more. You'd think if you woke up in a dark room unsure of where you were, you wouldn't be loud enough to wake the dead.

"What's happening?" André questions in a soft voice. I guess Trina's obnoxious voice woke him up. "We don't know," Cat whispers to him. "We all just woke up here." I sit up and look around in the dark for some form of light just as Tori was waking up. "It's about _time_ you woke up," Trina states with narrowed eyes; I can see everyone in front of and around me somewhat clearly, but nothing else. With Tori awake and sitting up, we all sit in a tight circle, our arms tied behind our backs. "What's going on?" she asks in a dazed confusion. She isn't the brightest bulb in the box if you know what I mean.

I open my mouth to speak, but someone else speaks instead. "You're all being charitable," they announce from the shadows; it sounds familiar, but I can't place who it is. "Who's there?" I call out to the darkness. "Let us go!" A sinister chuckle comes from wherever the familiar voice did. "I'm afraid we can't do that," they say.

Then, the lights flip on and Rex steps out of the shadows of Robbie's closet walking on his own. Five more dummies come out behind him. All of us stare in awe at the dummies—even me, because this is really creepy even for my tastes—as we watch them progress toward us.

"Six of you are going to give up your bodies so _we_ can live a little," Rex tells us. His wooden lips clamp together, sending a hollow echo through his head; I can barely see the set of jagged teeth in his mouth. "_Six?_" Trina exclaims with worry. "There are more than six of us here! What about the seventh person?" Rex laughs darkly, his eyes looking sinister. "One of you unlucky children will be given the privilege of dying," he explains. "The rest of you, I'm afraid, will be forced to live inside our bodies, being nothing more than common toys."

One of the other dummies, a girl one with curly red hair as red as Cat's and a face full painted with freckles, walks up to Rex and whispers something in Rex's ear. He eyes Trina. "I don't think you want her," he tells the freckled dummy. "She's desperate and untalented." Trina struggles in her ropes. "I am _not _untalented!" she exclaims as she thrashes around. "Now let me go! I wanna go home! I hate it here; it smells like old people feet!"

Furrowing her plastic brows, the freckled dummy crossed her arms. "She's got an annoying voice," she spits with a wooden scowl. She turns to Rex. "I think you're right; I don't like her. The other three girls are prettier anyway." Trina continues to struggle in her ropes. "I'm pretty too!" she pushes. "Shut up!" Rex demands, his voice booming in the room. Trina jumps and stops talking.

"Now," Rex begins, his voice lowering to a calm one, "The rest of you are going to be our vessels." He eyes us all over then gestures to his wooden friends with chipping, wooden fingers. "_We_...are considered lifeless; _we_ no longer have bodies of our own, and _we_ must maintain a doll-like state in the presence of humans so they won't destroy us—I mean, let's be _honest_, you idiots kill anything you don't understand." He smiles darkly. "But with _your_ bodies," he continues, "_We_ can become full of life, where _we_ never have to worry about collecting dust in the back of a closet or under some loser's bed. And, best of all, we get to be _human_. You see, we were once human—wizards in fact—and we would still be that way if that _El Toro Diablo_ hadn't cursed us." A hard grimace sets on his face and he closes eyes I didn't know could close. After a moment, a smile crosses his face and he opens his eyes. "So who wants to go first?" He lets out a loud spine tingling cackle as the other dummies debate amongst themselves.

They briefly collaborate before a dummy with long, purple hair, purple eye-shadow, and light purple lips steps forward. I figure she'll want Cat's body. "I want the redhead," she states. I was right; it's only natural she'd want a body as flamboyant as her own. Rex half-smiles…or, at least he smiles as much as a dummy could anyway. "Looks like you're first, Kitty Cat," he announces. Cat begins to cry loudly with teary eyes and the purple dummy moves to the center of the circle, pushing past André and Trina. Trina snaps her teeth at the dummy and—if possible—manages to make a bigger fool of herself. The dummy lowers to the ground and sits cross-legged, staring at Cat with a devious smile; the only reason I could tell was because of the movement of her eyebrows. Her face doesn't move too much.

"Start the ritual," she demands in a hiss.

He pulls out a large, red amulet from under his shirt and closes his eyes. The red crystal is the same color as Cat's hair, put probably no bigger than her large eyes. Gold circles it—making the amulet the size of my hand—with small diamonds placed in the four cardinal directions; a larger diamond points to the chain on the amulet, signaling it was the northern diamond.

Rex holds out his hands and takes in a deep breath, though he doesn't breathe in the first place. "_Demones inferni_," he begins in what I think is Latin. "_Audite cry_." The lights begin to flicker slightly. "_Take animam et corpus restituat. Spirant vitam in quod erat immortalis._" The lights flicker harder and the ground begins to shake, but Rex doesn't stop. "_Nobis tua et transibit animas_!" As he utters the last word, thunder sounds outside and the lights in Robbie's room flicker on and off.

The ground begins to shake violently, but doesn't toss any of us out of the circle as the lights finally go out. Then, the shaking stops and all is silent. A brief moment later, a deafening roar sounds, followed by large lights surrounding Cat and the purple dummy; Cat's is light red and the dummy's is black as night. I watch as the lights that surround them snap up into the air and pass each other as they circle their new destinations. The glowing lights speed into Cat's body and the dummy's body, knocking each of them backwards and removing all night from the room.

Robbie's bedroom lights spark back on as they hit the ground.

Our first instincts—I can see on everyone's faces—are to scream or piss ourselves after witnessing what we saw. With shallow, frightened breathing (even from me) we look to Cat. We're all tongue tied at first, but Tori is the first to speak. I would have spoken, but I was too scared to find my voices; I knew what happened to her would happen to me and I know what my new life as a dummy will hold for me.

"C-Cat?" Tori calls out. A groan emerges, but Cat's lips don't move. "My head hurts," Cat announces. She sounds farther away than before. We all look to the center of the circle at the purple dummy that's grabbing its hollow head. "Cat!" I exclaim. I can feel tears begin to form in my eyes; this would be the first time I cried since Beck "broke up" with me four months ago. Cat looks at me with the dummy's porcelain blue eyes. "How did you get over there, Jade?" she asks, her wooden teeth clacking together. Cat's eyes widen as she looks at her body beside me and screams loudly, falling on her now-wooden back. The dummy in Cat's body begins to laugh softly, but it quickly grows into a dark cackle as she throws Cat's head back, Cat's red hair shaking around her.

"Grab her," Rex orders once the laughter stops, pointing at Cat in the dummy's body. "Tie her up and put her on the bed; then untie Dahlia." The other two boy dummies, a blonde one with painted green eyes and a raven-haired one with a face like Gene Simmons' from KISS, picks up Dahlia's dummy and dragged her to Robbie's bed, tying her up with more rope. Cat thrashes in their grasp, but they're stronger than she. Once that deed is done, the blonde dummy goes to Cat's body and she smiles darkly with Cat's full, red lips as they untie Cat's body. Dahlia stretches Cat's arms with a content smile and closed eyes, and lets out a small moan. "I feel so _alive_," she announces in Cat's high voice once she stops stretching. She flexes Cat's fingers, getting used to them. Cat sobs loudly from her place on Robbie's bed, producing no tears.

The KISS dummy steps forward next. "I want the black one," he announces. André sneers at him and lashes his foot out at the dummy, but misses. The dummy steps past him and sits in the center of the circle. Again, Rex holds out his hands and takes in another deep breath.

"_Demones inferni_," he begins, again reciting in Latin. "_Audite cry_." The lights begin to flicker slightly once more. "_Take animam et corpus restituat. Spirant vitam in quod erat immortalis._" The lights flicker harder again and the ground shakes, but Rex still doesn't stop. "_Nobis tua et transibit animas_!_"_ Once again, as he utters the last word, thunder sounds outside and the lights in Robbie's room flicker off.

The ground shakes violently again, and the lights go out. Then, the shaking stops and all goes silent again. This time, I'm slightly less afraid of what's gonna happen and the deafening roar that's about to come. A brief moment later, the roar sounds again, followed by large lights surrounding André and the KISS dummy; this time André's light is light blue, but the dummy's is still black. This time, I close my eyes as the switch happens.

I open my eyes as Robbie's bedroom lights spark back on.

Tori's freely crying now, especially when the blonde dummy and a redheaded girl dummy come to pick the KISS dummy up and carry it to Robbie's bed, later tying him up. Rex snickers at her. "Isn't this _fun_, kiddies?" he questions of us. I can feel the rage building up inside me.

"Let us out of here you demented son of a—!" I exclaim. The redheaded dummy laughs through her wooden lips, cutting me off. "She's a feisty one," she says; her voice was similar to mine. "I want her." I growl at her and thrash in my ropes. "Stay the heck away from me," I seethe. The dummy's eyebrows lower as her smile becomes sinister and she moves to the center of the circle.

When Rex begins the ritual, I black out…so I missed all his annoying theatrics. When I "wake up," I stare at my body from an elevated seat, meaning I finally get to be a redhead. I watch the last girl dummy, a blonde with shoulder-length hair and blue eyes, run into the circle from behind the foot bar of Robbie's bed.

I felt like I'm in a freakin' jail!

"My turn!" she exclaims in giddy joy; she would have been better off in Cat's body if she _had_ to take one of our bodies. I look on in partial sadness as Rex moved on with the ritual, but part of me is glad this was happening to Tori too; if I had my own body, I would have put hers in a wood chipper.

And after all the theatrics, the blonde dummy found herself in Tori's body, smiling in genuine happiness with Tori's lips. "I feel so pretty," she breathes in Tori's horrid voice as she's untied and her old body is thrown up on the bed.

Then it's down to two boys and two dummies: my boyfriend and Robbie left with Rex and the blonde male dummy. The blonde one steps forward. "I want the pretty one," he insists. Rex laughs sardonically. "You're crazy!" he accuses in his sinister voice. "There's no way I'm gonna live my life as an Andy Samberg wannabe." Robbie groans in annoyance. "I told you I'm not Andy Samberg!" he cries out. Rex's eyes dart to him. "Can it, Shapiro!" he snarls. Robbie jumps in his spot and looks away from Rex.

Then, Rex turns back to the blonde dummy. "You're getting the Jew," he states, "And you're gonna like it." Someone's an Anti-Sematic jerk. The blonde one lunges for Rex, trying to grab the amulet. "No way!" he shouts. "_I'm_ taking the pretty one's body!" As the dummies fight, I can see Beck manages to get his pocket knife free and starts cutting at his ropes. Then, the blonde one snatches away the amulet and sits on Rex, pinning him to the ground.

_"Demones inferni,"_ the dummy begins, shouting at the top of his lungs. "No!" Rex bellows, trying to take the amulet back and struggling under the other one's weight. But the blonde one continues to chant, uncaring of what Rex has to say.

"_Audite cry."_

"I'll kill you!"

"_Take animam et corpus restituat." _

"No! Stop!"

"_Spirant vitam in quod erat immortalis." _

"You'll regret this!"

"_Nobis tua et transibit animas!"_

Once more, thunder crashes and the lights flicker off. This time when they come back on, however, Rex's body lay limp on the ground and Robbie slowly opens his eyes. We look at him in silence as we wait for him to speak.

"No!" Rex screamed at the top of Robbie's lungs as the dummy ties his old body up. "You bastard! I swear I'll kill you!" He turns to the other dummies in our human bodies that still sit in the circle. "I'll kill you all, too, for not helping me!" The redheaded dummy rolls my eyes. "Oh save it, Rex," she spits in my voice. "You know if we moved from the circle, the magic would be broken and we wouldn't be able to finish the ritual. Then we'd be stuck in these bodies and The Curse of Six would rot them away." With a sneer, he spits at my body, but the soul working my motor skills dodges it. "Shrew," he hisses.

After that, the blonde dummy smirks. "Looks like you're the only one left," he told Beck. Just as he finishes speaking, Beck cuts through the final part of his ropes and breaks from the circle to attack the dummy. The others—realizing they can—jump from the circle and lunge for him. They almost get him when he jumps away into a corner, holding up the amulet.

"Move and I'll smash it!" he screams with narrowed eyes. I know it isn't the time or place, but I love it when Beck raises his voice; it was so sexy. The personified dummies gasp and back away from Beck, including the blonde non-fleshy dummy. "You don't know what you're doing," he states calmly, holding his hands out to Beck, hoping he'll back out of his word. "Yes I do," Beck spits with a sneer. He shakes the amulet by its chain. "I know that if I smash this, all of you will go back to your old bodies and you can't do this to anyone else!"

Honestly, I think he's bluffing; I don't think he truly knows what will happen if he smashes it.

"Don't do it!" the KISS dummy pleads with André's voice. "We can make you a deal! Just don't destroy the amulet! Please—"

"No!" Beck interrupts. "No deals and _no_ negotiations! The only thing I want is for my friends and my girlfriend to be in their own bodies. This is the only way to do it." Without another word, Beck grabs the amulet by its circle of gold and smashes it—jewel first—into the nearest wall. Hundreds of glittering shards fall to the ground as red smoke billows from the golden circle. All the human dummies let ear piercing shrieks as the smoke quickly encompasses them and the ground shakes violently as the lights cut out. I black out again, but I can feel my soul going back to my body. I feel a hard thud as well as a sharp pain shoot through my body, but I'm still conscious.

The lights are still out.

"Is everyone okay?" I hear André call out in the dark. "I'm okay," Cat stated quietly. "I'm good," Robbie says. "Me too," Tori states. "I wanna go home!" Trina whines. I hear the air move and she let out a pained shout. "Shut up, Trina," Tori hisses. I roll my eyes though no one can see it. The Vega sisters are simply pathetic. "Are…Are we back to normal?" Robbie asks. "I don't know," I answer. "I can't see anything."

Then, the lights slowly flicker back on.


	3. Changes

Dedicated to Maddi!

* * *

><p>"<strong>Chapter 3 - Changes"<strong>

Once the lights flicker back on, dimly lighting the room, six teenagers find themselves back in the circle on the floor and staring in sheer horror at each other while Beck looks on in confusion [_he doesn't know what to say_].

"W-why am I over there?" Jade stammers. [_Her voice is not her own._] She speaks in Cat's voice, now sitting directly across from her original body. "And why am I over there?" Victoria exclaims from Jade's body, staring across the circle at her own body as well. Jade narrows Cat's eyes. _Jade thinks Victoria should keep her two cents in her pockets._

Robbie on the other hand, isn't taking these new circumstances so **harsh**. "On the cool side," he begins from André's body, "I'm finally one of the bros." _Only Robbie would make a joke at a time like this._ Despite the circumstances, everyone laughs at his little joke [_except for Trina since she's a stuck up shrew_].

After the awkward laughter dies down, Jade is the first to speak. No matter the body, _she's the one_ to take charge. "Who's who?" she asks in Cat's ridiculously high pitched voice. She looks around the circle, waiting for someone else to speak. Everyone else—except for Beck and Trina—looks down at their clothes and hands to determine their bodies.

"We all know where Gem is," Beck points out with a small smirk, walking over to the circle and sitting between Trina and André. [_Should he sit by Cat since Gem's in her body, or by Gem's body?_] "It's safe to say and Victoria's in Jade's body, right?" Jade's head nods then looks away from the group. Jade growls in Cat's head. (_She hates Victoria._) "I'm in Tori's body!" Cat announces with utter joy as she raises Victoria's hand high in the air. **Lovely** as ever. Jade smiles widely _through Cat's lips_ and claps her hands. She realizes what she's doing and stops. "So that means André's in Robbie's body and so forth," Victoria says in Jade's voice and crossed arms.

(Process of elimination is **key**)

"I wish you guys would stop being so weird!" Trina cries out. **Whiney** brat. "These ropes are really starting to hurt my arms and I don't know _what_ any of you are talking about or _what_ just happened." Victoria rolls Jade's eyes with an annoyed sigh. [Someone should shove a sock down Trina's **throat**.] "We should figure out what's going on first," Jade/Cat suggests. She looks to Beck. "Were you bluffing about the amulet thing or do you actually know something about it?" Granted, she could have phrased her question better.

"You remember my older sister in Nevada?" he starts. Jade/Cat nods. "Well the last time I talked to her," he continues, "She was still into magic and stuff. When I visited her in the summer, she had this book that had a picture of the amulet and it talked about how breaking the crystal inside would break whatever magic it was doing."

"So how are we supposed to get back into our own bodies?" André/Robbie questions. [His voice is _awkward_. His eyes are _frantic_.] "And would someone _please_ untie me? Robbie's got an itch on his nose and it's bothering me." Beck retrieves his pocket knife from the floor and quickly does away with the ropes.

Then, a dark chuckling and wooden clicking comes from Robbie's bed.

[_Sounds like chainsaws in a blender._]

Everyone turns to see Rex sitting up, the ropes tightly around him. "Pretty Boy over there just smashed the only chance of you going back to normal into a hundred shiny pieces," he states. Cat starts crying with Victoria's tears, messing up Victoria's mascara. "I wanna be normal again!" she exclaims. (_Baby_.) Her hands fly to her eyes to wipe away the tears. Jade crawls with Cat's _frail_ palms and **quivering** knees over to her best friend—though Cat is in the body of the girl Jade loathes—and hugs her tightly. [_She loves Cat like a __**sister**_.] "Don't cry, Cat," she soothes softly, rubbing Victoria's back. "Everything's gonna be alright, I promise."

{All is silent, except for Cat/Victoria's _sobbing_}

Then Robbie/André has an idea.

"Is that the only amulet there is?" he questions. [_His eyes __shine_.] "I'm sure we could find a way to make another one if it was." [He speaks **fast** and **breathy** even _out of body_.] Beck shrugs lightly. "I doubt that amulet is the only one of its kind," he states confidently. "I could see if my sister knows if we could find another one."

The doll named Dahlia scoffs. {_Hateful __witch_} "You'll never find another one," she states obviously. "There were only two ever made and the other one is six feet under in Utah with—" Rex head-butts her, interrupting her. "Shut up you idiot!" he hisses. .:Violent:. "No!" Jade/Cat screeches. [The sound of angry _robins_] "Keep talking!" The power of her voice makes everyone, even the dummies, jump. _**.:Jade is still intimidating as ever:.**_ Dahlia shakes her wooden head. "I ain't saying nothin'," she says. {Not smart}

Rex chuckles again. "It's pointless to try to get anything out of us," he tells them. "None of us are gonna talk; you're just wasting your breath. We'll get out of here and we _will_ find that amulet. Then, we'll finish the ritual and lock you away in our bodies." He frowns. .:Devil's Advocate:. "But let's say no one finds the other amulet," he suggests. {The plot **thickens**} "If you all stay in those mixed up bodies for too long, your minds will merge with the bodies you're in and you'll constantly fight both personalities." He smiles widely. "At least until your brains burn out and you turn into mindless zombies!"

Everyone, even Trina, gasps at what Rex said, but Jade's face hardens as he begins to cackle again. She clenches her eyes shut when the other dummies join in, her scowl growing.

"Shut up!" Victoria screams in Jade's voice, frightening everyone in the room. She shoots up from her place in the circle and snatches Rex up from his place on the bed. "I never liked you, you little piece of filth," she spits. "Tell us where the other amulet is or _I swear to God_ I'll bash your stupid face in." Rex lets out a short, mocking laugh. "You're bluffing," he challenges. (Bad move) With a deep scowl and a raised eyebrow, Victoria/Jade grabs Rex by his head and slams it against the metal railing of Robbie's top bunk. "Ow!" he screams. "That hurt, you stupid wench!" She slams him into the bottom of the bunk once more, chipping off a piece of his forehead. "Tell us where the amulet is!" she demands. Cat/Victoria flinches at her voice. {She's terrified more than André} "I'll never tell you," Rex defies. .:_He won't learn_:.

In a furious rage, Victoria/Jade chucks Rex into the corner, his head hitting one of the corners of Robbie's room with a loud _smack_. He lets out a small **groan** of pain and Victoria crosses Jade's arms, tapping her foot lightly. "Looks like we won't get anything out of him," she mutters.

{_That won't stop her though._}

Victoria raises one of Jade's eyebrows then turns to four of the remaining dummies on the bed. {They've all _forgotten_ about one} "Who's next?" she questions with a devilish smile. (She's a mean one, Mr. _Grinch_) The dummies start shaking and whimpering, trying to scoot away from her. Victoria/Jade points to Dahlia with a black claw. .:_Her fingers are_ _**daggers**_:. "Purple one," she calls. Dahlia begins to tremble in fear with wide, frightened eyes. "I don't know anything!" she cries out in terror. She clenches her eyes shut. "Please don't hurt me!" (She's never been more afraid in her life) Victoria narrows Jade's eyes at Dahlia. "I think you're lying," she whispers darkly.

{Victoria's _sexy_ when Jade's mad}

Her hands move to Jade's pockets, looking for something to hurt Dahlia; a sinister smile emerges when she pulls out a book of matches. .:Jade's _Holy_ book:. "_These_ should make you remember where the amulet is," she points out, waving the book in front of Dahlia. Dahlia kicks at the sheets of Robbie's bed. {_Anything_ to get **away**} "Stay away from me!" she screams. "Tell me what I want!" Victoria/Jade screams back. .:_Terror's in the air_:. Dahlia begins to sob slightly, fearing for her life. [She has **no tears**] "I don't know anything!" she cries again. "Please, just leave me alone." The words are mumbled through her sobs. "I" .:Sob:. "J-just" .:Sob:. "W-w-want-ted" .:Sob:. "T-to be" .:Sob:. "Human…" Victoria/Jade sneers. "You don't have to get hurt," she reminds Dahlia. {She's **lying**} "How many times do I have to _tell_ you?" Dahlia shouts. "I _don't_ know anything!" She's shaking the whole bed. Victoria narrows Jade's eyes.

[Trouble's brewing]

Victoria opens Jade's matchbook slowly, carefully eying the matches with pursed lips. She carefully breaks a match out and strikes it against the box. (Fire _cleanses_ all) "Tori, don't," André/Robbie reprimands. {André's words aren't powerful through Robbie's voice} He runs to Victoria and snatches Jade away. The match falls out of her hand onto Dahlia's hair.

{_Everything's up in smoke_}

Dahlia screams and thrashes in her ropes, spreading the fire up her long purple hair to the roots. Beck wastes no more time and rushes to Dahlia. He quickly grabs one of Robbie's pillows and repeatedly hits her head with it in attempt to put out the flames.

.:_My hero_!:.

The entire left side of Dahlia's hair is burnt away until the bottom of her ear. With an ear piercing wail, she speaks. "The amulet is in the grave of _El Toro Diablo_!" she cries out. Her sobs fill their ears.

_{They all glare menacingly at __Victoria__}_

Beck is the first to speak. He holds Dahlia in his arms as she cries without tears. "What the heck is wrong with you, Victoria?" he hisses, looking to her with hate-filled eyes. She flinches from his anger then looks back to Dahlia and gasps, the hand with the matchbook flying to her mouth. She looks at the matchbook and screeches, dropping it in the process.

{She's **another** person}

"I…I don't know what came over me," she stammers out. "Something…something just _made_ me do it! But—" her voice trails off slightly as she looks to Beck in confusion. ::_Realizations_:: "—I think I liked it…" A loud, sharp "Ha" comes from the corner of Robbie's room and everyone looks to see a broken Rex on the ground. "It's already happening!" he exclaims in utter, evil glee. (_Dirty bastard_) "She's already merging with Jade!" Both Victoria and Jade gasp in their new bodies. [Shocker] "I don't wanna be Cat!" Jade exclaims in Cat's breathy, high pitched voice. She cries loudly for a moment then wipes her eyes with shaky hands. (_Here we go_) "I haven't cried in a year!" she shouts, more tears falling.

Beck walks to Jade/Cat and hugs her tightly, resting his head on hers after he puts Dahlia back down on the bed. "It's okay," he soothes, rubbing her back gently. "We'll find a way to get you back to normal."

{And they say _chivalry_ is **dead**}

But even in his girlfriend's body—with his girlfriend's personality—Beck _still_ doesn't want Victoria. _She_ wants to cry, but _Jade_ never cries. .:What a shame:.

"We should figure out what we're going to do given our new situations," André/Robbie states. A little power comes to his voice and he turns to Beck. "You should call your sister and find where they buried _El Toro Diablo_. I'm sure she'd know." He turns to everyone else and they look to him in wait. "The rest of us—'cept Trina—are gonna talk with each other and get to know each other better so we can live as each other while we wait to find the amulet." [That's _all_ they can do]

_~*Twenty minutes later*~_

{Cat _can't_ drive}

Though it's Victoria's car, Victoria won't let her body drive the car because she doesn't trust Cat behind the wheel. It's confusing however, because Victoria's in Jade's body and—if she doesn't trust Cat—she sure as _hell_ can't trust Jade, especially with their personalities starting to merge.

.:They'd run off the road because _Jade hates squirrels_:.

So here's the problem.

And after five minutes of bickering between Victoria and Jade while Cat sits in the passenger's seat enjoying how Victoria's personality didn't get frightened when people yelled {A _welcomed_ break from Cat's home}, they quickly come to the conclusion that Cat should drive since the body she's in has the most stable personality among the three of them and they'd all rather die than let Trina drive.

Victoria has to sit in the backseat while Cat drives _obnoxiously_ slow because Jade has to sit in the front seat. .:_They don't want to risk a panic-manic episode_:. In the end, what would have taken a five minute drive from Robbie's house to Cat's house—since her parents won't be home until the end of the week and won't be there to ask too many prying questions—turns into a fifteen minute drive.

"Can you drive faster, Cat, _please_?" Jade/Cat asks from her place in the front seat. Victoria/Jade rolls her eyes. "Do you want to sit in the backseat?" she snaps loudly. Jade lowers Cat's head. "No," she answers softly. "Then _shut_ up," Victoria/Jade orders. "Could you two please not fight?" Cat/Victoria asks quietly as she progresses through a stoplight. "I can't focus on driving when you two are fighting." Victoria narrows Jade's eyes and sighs in defeat. "Fine," she says. She points out the windshield. "Be careful of the—" .:Cat runs over the curb as she turns:. "—curb…" Cat cringes and takes Victoria's hands off the wheel. Victoria and Jade lunge for the wheel to keep it in place. "Don't take your hands off the wheel!" Victoria screams. "Don't yell at me!" Cat screams back. Victoria sighs and lets go of the wheel. "I'm sorry, Cat," she apologizes. Jade's body twitches, but Victoria doesn't notice it.

Trina wants to whine, but she doesn't feel like being yelled at by Jade/Victoria/whatever, so she just sits in the backseat by the window with her arms crossed and her head on the glass.

.:_Trouble_ brews:.

They arrive back at Cat's house and quickly make their way inside. They find Tony sitting on the couch watching a Japanese cooking show, where a woman with obviously dyed, blonde hair teaches others how to make a soufflé. "I'm home!" Cat announces in Victoria's voice.

{_Tony doesn't know Victoria or Trina_}

Victoria/Jade quickly grabs Cat and pulls her around the corner so they can hide behind the hall closet by the door. "Shh," she hisses quietly. "I've never met your brother and you're not you. Let Jade do the talking." Cat lowers Victoria's head with a small sniffle. "Okay," she whispers.

"Hey, who's there?" Tony calls out, looking over the back of the couch. "I-it's just me," Jade/Cat calls back to him. Tony laughs. "Hey, Kit-Cat," he greets. He steps out of the den and sees the three girls.

{_Tony's sexy. He's got long, light brown hair just a little past his ears that he normally keeps in a pony-tail with one or two strands on his face. He's also got these real nice hazel eyes that are slightly smaller than Cat's and his eyebrows, God, his eyebrows are neatly chiseled with not a hair out of place yet not too bushy. He's got a tight build because he spends most of his days when he's not doing online classes working out. His lips are kinda full but not really and he speaks with a delicious accent that's a mix of Italian, German, and Japanese_.}

He nods to Jade then looks to Victoria in confusion. "Who are you friends, Kit-Cat?" [**Cute nicknames are cute**] Jade/Cat smiles and her body twitches. Twitching is normal for Cat, though. "This is Tori," she answers, gesturing to Cat/Victoria, "And this is Trina," she finishes, gesturing to Trina. (Cat **desperately** wants to cry on Tony's shoulder) Tony holds out his arm and twirls his hand three times with a complimenting bow. .:_He's quite a weird gentleman_:.

"We're just gonna go upstairs," Jade/Cat announces. "Tori's gonna leave later though." Tony shrugs and goes back to his show after stealing a glance at Trina. "Alright then," he says. "Have fun." [They won't] The girls pound up the stairs with Jade/Cat and Cat/Victoria skipping up them in twos. Victoria/Jade rolls her eyes with Trina groaning behind her, muttering complaints about how her ridiculously high heels are hurting her feet. Victoria/Jade ignores her. (_Maybe she'll go away_)

Once inside Cat's room, Jade and Cat jump on Cat's bed, both giggling wildly and carefree. {**Silly**, silly girls} "Will you two cut it out?" Victoria/Jade pleads. "We've got work to do." The jumping girls let out small noises and plop down on the bed, bouncing slightly. Jade picks at Cat's painted pink nails with a wide smile. "I _love_ this color," she breathes quietly. .:A _multi_-track mind:. Victoria snaps Jade's fingers at Jade. Cat grabs her hands to examine the color. "You're right!" she exclaims in Victoria's voice. "This is my favorite color!" [_Teenagers_]

Victoria narrows Jade's eyes again. "Nuh uh," she calls. "Focus over here." Jade slowly looks up from Cat's nails, the smile disappearing from her face. "Sorry," she mutters. Victoria sighs and sits on Cat's bed with the other girls. {Jade's patience is…**nonexistent**}

"Who's going first?" Cat/Victoria asks. (Always right to business) The three girls look amongst each other and Victoria decides she'll speak. "I was born in the biggest mall in Oregon because Trina refused to leave the in-door carnival when our mom's water broke," she says. The other two girls give soft giggles and Trina rolls her eyes. Victoria contemplates what else to say. "Well," she begins, "I lost my first tooth when I was five because Trina was seven and going through her 'sporty girl phase' and ended up hitting me in the face with a baseball bat." Trina crosses her arms with a scowl. A small smirk crosses Jade's face and her body twitches. This time, the other girls notice the twitch. (So say something…)

"I guess my favorite food would be empanadas," she continues. .:Yummy:. "They're basically spicy chicken with jalapeño peppers, shredded cheese, garlic, and onions all in a closed up pie crust." Victoria folds Jade's hands over as she speaks to illustrate what she's talking about. Cat's eyes widen. "Like a calzone!" she exclaims. Victoria rolls Jade's eyes again. "Sure," she says nodding it off before continuing. "My mom makes them on the first of every month so be ready to scarf them down and make it convincing, Cat." Cat/Victoria nods and the real Victoria continues her spoken autobiography. "I hate horror movies," she twitches but didn't stop speaking, "But I love animals to death; we've got three dogs, so be careful."

She pauses for a moment to think of more things about herself. {What to say, what to say} "Um," she begins, "My grandmother gives me a box of Persian chocolates every Christmas and they're the only kind of white chocolates I'll eat. They're under my bed if you want to try some, but don't eat them all."

Cat shakes her head. "I'm allergic to chocolate," she admits sheepishly with Victoria's head bent; the straight brown hair falls around Victoria's body, hiding her face. Cat then lifts Victoria's head with a wide smile. "But it's funny because I was born in Hershey, Pennsylvania." Jade and Victoria gasp. Cat shrugs.

"I guess you already knew my parents are rich," she adds. "My mom wanted nothing but chocolate when she was pregnant with me so they and my brother went there. We ended up living in Pennsylvania for three years after that, but then my mom's fashion career shot off—" She shoots Victoria's hand to the sky "—And we moved to LA so she could be close to the company she was with. She doesn't work for them anymore. Tony says they called her this really mean word and she called them a really mean word and quit. She's still a big designer though.

"And when I was five, my daddy became a producer. He worked with Eminem once! I got to meet him and his daughter. They were really nice!" She pauses, again trying to think of what to say. "I met Jade and Robbie in second grade!" she exclaims gleefully. Jade claps Cat's hands at the mention of her name. (They're becoming **one**) "When I was twelve," Cat continues, "These fancy doctors told me I was bipolar, but I don't' care, haha!" She rocks back and forth on the bed slightly.

"I know how to speak three languages," she announces, holding up three fingers. "Tony took me with him whenever he travelled the world, so I can speak Chinese, Spanish, and German. We travelled a lot to get away from our parents when they were being really mean." She frowns and stops rocking on the bed. "My parents are hardly home anymore because they're always at therapy; they weren't around much when I was growing up, so Jade, Robbie, and Tony are my closest friends." Jade claps Cat's hands again with a noise of glee and hugs Cat tightly.

[_Not all sisters are related_]

They hug for another moment before Jade speaks.

"Well I was born at home because my dad wouldn't take my mom to the hospital," Jade says. All joking is gone. "My dad's not a nice man; my mom died when I was five and my sister, Juliette, was three. He drinks a lot and…he used to beat us. Before my mom died, he used to beat her too; one day he beat her too much…" Neither of the other girls speaks. Victoria's breath catches in Jade's throat and Jade continues her backstory.

"When I was ten," she continues in Cat's lovable yet annoying high-pitched voice, "I snuck into my dad's tool shed and stole one of his hammers. Whenever he came near me or my sister I'd hit him in the knees…or his…_crotch_." She giggles after saying _that word_. {_You can't spell immaturity without Cat_} "His hammer gave me a lot of power and made me feel like I was in control," she says. "I was picked on and bullied in elementary school," she says. "But my hammer solved all those problems," she says.

She starts smiling this real goofy smile and Cat's cheeks turn pink. "I met Beck in eighth grade," Jade says. "He was different than the other guys I was around—not that he still isn't; he just…he wasn't afraid of me. He was the one who came up to me and he started talking to me even though I wasn't as…colorful…as the other girls. Then we fell in love and he was mine and I was his." Jade lets out a content sigh and shakes her head. "I'm not the religious type," she starts, "But I thank God, Buddha, or whoever for putting Beck in my life; he completes me and makes me feel what I never thought I could."

{Suddenly, Victoria's _the bad guy_}

The girls spend another hour with each other before Cat decides she should get Victoria's body home. (She's so **rational**) In the end, the girls feel a little closer to each other, truly understanding their backstories and why they are the way they are.

Cat drives Victoria's car back to Victoria's house trying not to crash along the way with Trina hyperventilating in the front seat; she should've kicked Cat/Victoria out of the driver's seat. [_A steady hand makes a steady, __painstakingly__ slow drive_.]

Jade and Victoria spend the rest of the night in Cat's room watching Cat's obnoxiously large TV, dozens of scary DVDs scattered on the bed. They don't speak to each other unless to choose a movie.

André and Robbie, however, don't have much to talk about at Robbie's house. They wait until everyone leaves—including Beck—before they get to know each other.

"Ready?" André/Robbie begins, sitting on Robbie's bunk. Robbie sits by the pillow with André's legs up to his chest, holding them tightly. .:It's weird to see a black guy doing that. Was that racist?:. A muffled noise comes from Robbie's closet. "Hey shut up in there!" André shouts in Robbie's less than domineering voice. The noise turns into a muffled yelling and doesn't stop. André rolls Robbie's eyes.

"Anyway," he begins. "I was born here in LA when my mom was seventeen. Uh, you kinda already know about how my parents died, but they died thirteen years ago today from a KKK shoot out." He frowns. "Heh, it's kinda sad really; I was gonna propose to Tori today to make this day memorable in all the right ways and I almost get my body taken away from me." He sighs, thinking about Victoria.

[_He _really_ thinks he loves her. Too bad she hasn't been his __since the very beginning_.]

"But anyway," he continues, "When my parents were killed, I was left to live with my grandmother. A couple years back though she lost her mind; now she's real paranoid and she don't know how to be around other people. Try not to make sudden movements 'round her." .:_White boy got __**slang**_:. Robbie nods André's head. "You know I started dating Tori a month after she transferred, but that's about it."

Robbie nods André's head again. "I don't like to talk about myself," he says quietly.

{André and quiet should **never** go together.}

He sighs deeply with André's eyes closed. "W-when I-I was four," he stutters out. "M-my mother died of cancer. My dad wasn't a very nice person to me after she died." Robbie rolls up the sleeves of his shirt with André's hands to reveal the burns, bruises and scars covering his arms. He points to a circular burn mark on his wrist. "My dad gave me this when I was seven," he says. "He put his cigar out on me because I wouldn't stop crying; said it would teach me a lesson." He points to a large healed gash near the crease of his elbow. It's big and red with purple splotches like it's fresh. "I got that last year," he continues. "He cut me with his shaving razor—one of those old ones like in Sweeny Todd—just because he didn't like the way I looked. He's in jail now, so I live with my grandma too, but it still hurts knowing what he did."

André snatches away from Robbie and rolls down the sleeves of Robbie's turtleneck. "I don't want to hear anymore," he states. Robbie smiles weakly through André's lips. "No one does," he retorts. "Why do you think I haven't said anything to Cat?"

André doesn't answer. Right now, the conversation is gloomy, an unwanted feeling lingering in the air. He's never really thought about why Robbie and Cat aren't together. He can see—as well as everyone else—that both Cat and Robbie feel strongly for each other, so why aren't they together? He's never really seen this depressed side of Robbie either; he's normally cheery and full of life [unless Rex is picking on him].

But now, André realizes that Robbie doesn't talk about his home life because he knows people won't want to hear it; they won't want to be around him anymore and he'll be lonely forever, cursed to live with a possessed puppet for the rest of his life.

.:That reminds him…:.

"How did you get Rex?" he asks suddenly. Robbie pauses with surprised eyebrows before speaking. "Well," he begins, "I was twelve when I got him. I don't remember it too much I guess, but I was in the park hiding from my dad and I started hearing this weird noise, like some coughing, but it was really mumbled. I went over to it and I found him half buried in the dirt and he was screaming 'help me! Help me!' I pulled him out and we started talking. It didn't bother me that he was a talking dummy because at least _someone_ was talking to me. He told me I should carry him around so he could see the world and everyone just thought I was trying to be a ventriloquist. He used to threaten me if I didn't take him anywhere, so I've had him ever since."

He smirks with a sad chuckle. "Sometimes I wish I would have left him there in the dirt." He smiles slightly at André. "But if I did _that_," he starts, "I wouldn't get to be one of the bros." André and Robbie laugh softly and André playfully punches Robbie in the arm.

Later, André calls his grandmother and gets Robbie to say where André will be since André isn't in control of his voice. After a few minutes of André's grandmother screaming on the phone about the cheese plotting a conspiracy with the toaster to destroy her toast, Robbie told her that "he" would be staying over at Robbie's for the night and going to school the next day. The boys spend the rest of the night hanging out and playing card games. [Robbie _doesn't even know_ what an Xbox is]

.:Meanwhile:.

Beck gets home thirty minutes after leaving Robbie's home and doesn't bother saying hello to his parents; he only goes to his RV parked in their driveway.

[**His roof, his rules**]

He lies on his big waterbed and pulls out his phone as he kicks off his shoes. (_Priorities, priorities_) Valerie Oliver-Richardson picks up her phone after two rings. "_Hello, hello, hello_?" her cheery voice chimes. Valerie's thirty-three, married, and pregnant but chipper, chipper, chipper. "Hey, Val," Beck calls to her. "_Hey baby bro_!" she exclaims on the other end of the line. Beck chuckles slightly.

"I got a serious question for you, Val," he tells her. At first she's quiet. [She knows what he'll say] "My friends and I are in some trouble," he continues. Valerie sighs. "_I figured_," she says softly. "_What's the problem_?" Beck takes in a deep breath with closed eyes. _How do I word this so she doesn't think I'm crazy?_ he thinks to himself. He chuckles slightly. _What the hell am I talking about? She knows _all_ about magic_.

"We're kinda in a bind," he says. "Robbie got mixed up with this ventriloquist dummy that used to be a wizard and then him and his friends tried to steal my friends' bodies. I smashed the amulet he had, but now my friends are in different bodies. Can you help me out?" There is a pause before she speaks.

"_I can_—" she begins reluctantly. "—_but only so much_." (There's something she's **not telling him**) "_They really got into some deep shit_." She gasps and—though Beck doesn't see it—rubs her very pregnant belly. "_Mommy's sorry_," she coos. "_She won't say bad words again_."

Beck rolls his eyes. "What do I need to do?" he questions. He hears the sound of Valerie's heels clicking on the ground as she looks for her big book of magic. She quickly flips the pages to find a picture of an amulet similar to the one Rex had. _"You'd have to get another amulet," _she tells him. .:Duh:. _"This is a very special amulet," _she continues. _"The guy who made it…El Toro something…only made two of them. I can't really read this language, but I think it says 'The amulet lies with my heart.' It'd be too simple to say the amulet is in his grave, but I'll do my research and get back to you, okay?"_

Beck sighs. "Please hurry," he begs, "Some really bad stuff will happen to them if they're in the wrong bodies too long." Valerie chuckles. _"Don't worry, Baby Bro,"_ she says. _"I'll help."_

**.:Stop reading. You know you don't care:.**

Trina acts the worst in the entire predicament. (Expect _nothing less_ from the Drama Queen) She keeps trying to repress the memory of what she's seen. She doesn't speak to her sister…or the girl in her sister's body. She refuses to believe anything about possessed puppets and body-switching magic. According to her, Victoria is the one driving her home, not Cat in Victoria's body. This is the hardest part, because Cat can't drive for the life of her. But through the hyperventilating and the terror, Trina makes it through the horrendous car ride back home.

She wants to go straight to her room and go to sleep, to forget about the things that have happened and the things what were said to her, but her mother bombards her and her "sister" upon entering the room.

"You two are home late," Mrs. Vega announces from the kitchen. She's finishing up on dinner as she speaks. (She's roughly Victoria's height with short and curly brown hair and large brown eyes surrounded by crows' feet and worry lines, but she's got a warming smile that makes everyone feel welcomed)

Loud whining sounds throughout the Vega house, followed by the sound of claws scratching on the floor. A Doberman pinscher, a black American Eskimo, and an all gray Siberian husky come running around the corner to Cat/Victoria and Trina barking loudly and excitedly. Trina's eyes lighten as she sees the dogs and she pets them as they jump on her. "Hi babies," she coos. They jump on Cat/Victoria too, causing her to shriek in fear. The dogs stop barking and clawing at her for a moment to sniff her all around. Soon, they start growling at her, baring their teeth to her.

"Oh my," Mrs. Vega mutters. "They've never growled at you before, Victoria." She crosses her arms. "Have you been doing any drugs?" she questions with narrowed eyes. Cat shakes Victoria's head no. (_At least she's _honest)

Mrs. Vega keeps her eyes on Victoria for a moment longer before turning her head to the hallway. "David!" she calls out. "Can you come get the dogs? They're getting a little rough around Victoria." A moment later, a tall man with sandy blonde hair, hazel eyes, a young face, and a good build rounds the corner wiping grease off his hands.

"I think it's gone, Holly," he announces. "Aww," Mrs. Vega lets out, feigning empathy. (She doesn't really care) "I know how much you loved that old car." She nods to the dogs still growling at a shaking Cat/Victoria. Mr. Vega sighs and pulls each of the dogs gently by their collars to their cages in the garage.

Then Mrs. Vega carries a plate full of empanadas to the table. "Get washed up girls," she orders as she sets the plate down. "Your father will be back in a minute and we'll start dinner." Both girls quickly move to the kitchen sink to wash their hands and Trina pushes Cat/Victoria out of the way. "My house, me first," she hisses not looking at Cat. Normally, Cat would be bawling her eyes out right now.

{Victoria's body is such a positive influence}

Without another word, Cat waits for Trina to finish washing her hands and washes her own before returning to the dining room table. Mr. Vega returns with clean hands not too long after and sits at the table with his wife, daughter, and the girl pretending to be his daughter.

"You were home late today," Mrs. Vega repeats as she gently cuts her empanada. She looks up at her daughters. "Was everything okay at school?" Cat/Victoria nods as she takes a bite of the Spanish rice Mrs. Vega has also prepared. "We were just having casting calls for this play at school," she lies. "I'm sorry we were late." Trina doesn't speak, only eats her food with eyes on her plate, and Mrs. Vega smiles. "That's okay, honey," she says, "Just make sure you call next time if you're going to be late." Cat/Victoria nods again. "Yes, ma'am," she agrees.

[_Victoria never says_ "ma'am"]

She takes another bite of the dwindling amount of Spanish rice on her plate, then of her empanada. Food has never tasted so good to Cat before.

{Maybe because **she doesn't eat**}

She sets down her spoon then wipes her mouth. "May I please be excused?" she asks. "I've had enough to eat." _If I eat anymore_, she thinks, _I'll get sick again!_ Mrs. Vega smiles at her "daughter." "I love how polite you've become," she states. "I knew those 'Mini-Miss' classes would pay off one day. Cat/Victoria fakes a smile and says goodnight to the Vega family before retiring to Victoria's room.

She takes Victoria's bag and carries it up the stairs with her, feeling for the first time how heavy it is. She gently sets the bag down on the bed and opens it to retrieve Victoria's diary because she wants to write in it. But when she reaches her hand inside the bag, she doesn't feel the diary; she feels…porcelain.

She opens the bag more and screams at the top of Victoria's lungs.


	4. The Amulet

Dedicated to Maddi!

* * *

><p>"<strong>Chapter 4-The Amulet"<strong>

When Cat/Victoria opens Victoria's bag, she finds the male blonde doll that had tried to take over Beck's body. She continues to scream and throws the bag to the ground. She takes off her shoe and throws it out him. "Ow!" he hisses from beside the bed. He stands and holds his hands out trying to get Cat/Victoria to stop screaming. "Please be quiet!" he pleads. Cat/Victoria stops screaming instantly, but still eyes the dummy with caution and fear.

[If not for Victoria, Cat would be **terrified**]

"Victoria?" Mrs. Vega calls from the door in worry. "Are you alright? I thought I heard screaming." Cat/Victoria gasps; she can't let Victoria's mom see the dummy. "Yeah, Mom!" she lies. She tries to think of another lie. "I just...saw something scary. I'm fine, Mom!" Cat/Victoria looks for something to hold the dummy down as soon as she hears Mrs. Vega footsteps lightening. She grabs a pillow from Victoria's bed and tackles the dummy, flying over the bed in the process. She wraps it around his body yet leaves enough space to see his head.

{Such a daredevil}

"What are you doing?" he questions loudly. Cat/Victoria holds the pillow tighter over his body. "Why are you here?" she asks, ignoring his question. "What do you want from me?" The dummy looks at her with scared eyes. .:He fears she may be as bad as Victoria in Jade's body:. "I came to make a deal!" he exclaims. Cat loosens her grip slightly. "A deal?" she repeats. The dummy nods in fear. "I don't want to cause you any trouble," he insists. "I just want to help you! And maybe you could help me in the process."

Cat doesn't falter in her grip. "Just _what_ can _you_ do to help _me_?" she questions. The dummy struggles under Cat/Victoria's grip. (So persistent) "I know where the other amulet is," he forces out. This time, she lets up on the dummy and crosses Victoria's arms. "I'm listening," she informs him.

The dummy sits up. "Dahlia—," he begins, "—the purple haired doll if you forgot—she didn't know what she was talking about; she only knows where the amulet is rumored to be hidden. We were all there when _El Toro Diablo_ died and he swore to us he would keep the amulet 'close to his heart.' At first, we all thought he meant the amulet would _actually_ be buried with him; it was Rex who figured there was something more than that. He did some searching, but I was the only one he told because he trusted me."

Cat rolls Victoria's eyes. "_What_ makes you think I'm gonna believe you?" she asks doubtingly, her voice dripping with cynicism. "Because," the dummy shouts in frustration, "I'm not like Rex or the others! I used to be normal like you…"

Cat/Victoria gasps and backs away from the dummy. She climbs on the bed and crawls away from him. "You're lying!" she gasps with frightened eyes. She continues to crawl away from him until she falls off Victoria's bed and hits her butt with a loud thud. "Are you alright?" the dummy questions in genuine worry. Victoria's head shoots above the bed, her chocolate curls bouncing in the process. "Stay away from me," Cat hisses in a terrified whisper.

The dummy climbs on Victoria's bed. "I won't hurt you," he promises. "My name is Matthew Davidson. I was part of Rex's first round of victims. I've been trapped in this body for fifty years." Cat/Victoria continues to back away from 'Matthew.' "Then why is Rex still a dummy?" she challenges. "That stuff about that curse thing should have made him a person." Her hand reaches out and she grabs one of Victoria's shoes [_It's a __**black leather**__ pump and oh-so __**divine**_] She throws the pump at 'Matthew' but he quickly dodges it.

"Would you quit throwing things at me?" he pleads. "Tell me why you're different!" Cat/Victoria demands. She grabs one of Victoria's stilettos and prepares to throw it. The dummy shoots up his hands in surrender. "Okay, okay!" He closes his eyes for a moment, trying to keep his story straight.

(_Here we go again_)

"Fifty years ago," he begins, "I was with my friends when we came across Rex and his dummies. All our bodies got switched and my friends and I became dummies. Then one day, the dummy in my body killed the bodies of my friends." He looks away from Cat/Victoria. "I sat by and watched as the souls of my friends were ripped from the pseudo-bodies they were in," he continues, "and I watched as each one of their real bodies died as mine lived on with a stranger inside it. I guess the guy in my body killed the other bodies because he wanted their magic; he was never really a nice guy.

"Anyway, when they steal human bodies they get their magic back. And because _El Toro Diablo_ put the Curse of Six on them, they would never be as strong as they once were because they were all connected by the spell that killed him. So if they stayed in the human bodies, they get to live with one-sixth of the magic and they would get to die. But the one in my body, he was cruel and wanted his old magic back, so he killed the bodies of my friends. He's still alive and he's choosing to live forever. I should know; I've been keeping my eyes on him." He sighs and closes his eyes, turning to Cat. "So I need you to help me get my body back."

He opens his eyes to see Cat asleep in Victoria's body, laying on her floor and snoring lightly with Victoria's red stiletto still in her hand. {_Stories_ always put Cat to sleep} "Hey!" he exclaims. "Wake up!" Cat stirs lightly on the ground and her eyes flutter open. "I didn't tell you all that so you could take a nap!" 'Matthew' exclaims. Cat stretches in Victoria's body and lets out a small, adorable yawn. "You didn't have to shout," she says quietly. She stretches once more and sits up with a warming smile and closed eyes. [_Cat's always been a morning person_] 'Matthew' sighs in annoyance. "Will you _please_ help me?" he pesters.

Cat climbs on Victoria's bed with the stiletto still in her hand. "So how am I supposed to help you?" she inquires. There's a little less skepticism in her voice. (_Cat_ was always quick to trust; that **fool**) 'Matthew' pulls a piece of paper from his pocket and hands it to Cat. She unfolds it to find messy words scrawled all over it. "There are two addresses," he states obviously, "One of them is my home address where my body still lives; the second is where the amulet is. Promise me you won't tell your friends about this; I don't trust them."

Cat raises one of Victoria's eyebrows. "Why do you trust me," she challenges. "Because I see a pure soul behind your friend's eyes," he counters. They sit in a tense silence, trying to stare each other down. Then, Cat hears a noise and races to the window, Victoria's stiletto still in her hand. "Squirrel!" she exclaims in a gleeful voice and Cat's signature laugh.

{_Signature doesn't sound the same in a __different__ voice_}

"Could you focus _please_?" 'Matthew' begs. Cat turns back to him. "Sorry," she murmurs. She stays by the window. "Aright," he begins. "I need you to go to the second address _alone_." He holds up the paper Cat left on the bed and points to the second set of writing. "I won't be able to go inside because magic will keep me out the moment you get close enough. Then I'll need you to take me to the first address so I can get my body back." He lowers the paper and takes in a deep breath though he doesn't need it. "So will you help me?"  
>There is another silence before Cat responds. She drops Victoria's stiletto. "I'll help," she answers softly.<p>

_~*7:30 AM*~_

André/Robbie is the first to get to get to school. He left home early to go to Robbie's house to find something decent to wear. He knew it would take a while to find something decent to wear because, let's face it, Robbie's no Casanova.

[**The truth hurts**]

In the end, André decides on boot cut black jeans and a buttoned V-neck gray cardigan over a black undershirt. André's made Robbie look like a normal guy, well…as normal as can be when you're trapped in someone else's body anyway.

He walks to his own locker and places his fingers on the keyboard he's replaced his locker door with. The people around him stop moving and watch him intently, whispering silently to the others. They stare at him suspiciously, like they think Robbie's trying to steal from André's locker.

.:_If only they knew_:.

André begins to feel out of place as he removes his hands from the locker. Everyone turns from him and goes back to what they're doing. As he walks to Robbie's locker, he thinks to himself that he should've stayed home and asleep.

[Gotta keep the charade though]

"André!" Victoria/Jade calls out once she enters the hallway. Again, everyone stops what they're doing to eavesdrop; from their eyes, they all see Jade calling out to Robbie, obviously deranged for thinking he's André. They all take note of the pink blouse she wears over a jean skirt covered in flower prints. They watch "Jade" run up to "Robbie" and hug him tightly.

"How did you sleep?" she asks. He shrugs. "It's not easy sleeping in a body that isn't your own," he tells her. He sighs and there's a small silence between them.

Then Victoria finds another question. "Did Beck tell you anything about the amulet?" she asks softly. André/Robbie shakes his head. "I called him late last night but he said he couldn't talk," he explains. Jade's face falls. "But he did say he'd tell us what he found today," he quickly adds. Her face brightens a bit and she sighs.

"I hate being Jade," she confesses with a drop of her shoulders. "It sucks to be mean all the time and her dad's a total jerk. Her sister Juliette is really nice and all, but I _hate_ being Jade." She rests her head on Robbie's shoulder and André hugs her back. "Don't worry, Tori," he begins, rubbing her back softly. "We'll be back to normal before you know it." Victoria sighs again. "I really hope so," she says.

The whispers start to get a little louder.

Victoria looks around and pushes André away from her. "Get off me you freak!" she orders in Jade's voice. André drops his books and looks terrified. "I'm sorry!" he shouts in Robbie's voice. "You were about to fall on your ass from exhaustion!" Jade's eyes widen. "Cool it," she hisses. "Robbie doesn't say 'ass.'" Realizing André's probably screwed up everything, she decides to try something else.

She turns to everyone. "_What_?" she shouts. Everyone else jumps and quickly looks away from her and "Robbie," going back to what they were previously doing.

.:Feisty:.

Once everyone looks away, André and Victoria are left alone with their awkward silence. Then, Jade in Cat's body sneaks up behind Victoria. "Hey, Tori!" she exclaims in Cat's high pitched voice. Victoria jumps and screams in Jade's voice. This time, no one turns to look at the trio.

{_This is Cat's usual_}

Victoria turns around and crosses Jade's arms. "I see you're getting Cat's personality down, Gem," she spits. Jade laughs in Cat's signature laugh then sighs. "I know," she breathes, "I _hate_ it. I love Cat to death but she's too bubbly and _everything_ either makes me really happy or really mad. It's hard to keep up sometimes." Victoria rolls Jade's eyes. "Suck it up, you baby," she demands. Jade gasps. "That's _totally_ what I would've said!" she exclaims upset. Her face distorts into sadness and the tears threaten her eyes. [Here comes the **whining**] "I miss my body!" she cries out, stomping her foot. She crosses Cat's arms and tries not to cry.

Victoria/Jade looks up from Cat's body to Beck as he walks up behind her and wraps her arms around her. Jade/Cat gasps with a wide grin and turns around to kiss Beck deeply. .:Uh-oh:. A few of the surrounding people gasp and snap pictures on their phones. "I don't think y'all should be doing that," André/Robbie suggests in a low voice. A few more camera phones snap. "People are getting the wrong idea."

Beck and Jade break their kiss and look around to see several people quickly put away their phones and turn their heads away. "André's right," Beck agrees looking around. He looks back to Jade/Cat. "We should hold down on the PDA until you're back in your body." Victoria silently praises this decision inside Jade's head and feels a painful twitch. Jade's hands shoot to her head and Victoria lets out a pained noise. "Ow!" she shouts. _Get out of my body_, a deep voice whispers menacingly.

"Tori?" André calls. "Are you okay?" He reaches out to grab Jade's arm but she slaps it away. "I'm fine, I'm fine," she insists with Jade's hands on her head and eyes clenched shut. She opens them and takes in a deep breath. "I just got a bad headache," she says.

Jade/Cat ignores Victoria and frowns. "I love you, though," she whispers to Beck so no one outside of their group will hear. "I love you too," he whispers back. Victoria scoffs, then Jade's eyes look to the doorway to see Cat/Victoria holding hands with Robbie/André as they walk into the school with Trina not far behind them. {Trina's busy on her cell clicking away a chain of texts to people that _really_ don't want to talk to her} No one looks at the couple as they enter with Victoria's sister right behind them because they got lucky. The only thing that would blow their covers is "André" and his purple flannel shirt and ridiculously skinny, skinny jeans.

.:It's a _wonder_ his balls are even breathing:.

"Hi guys!" Cat/Victoria exclaims, waving Victoria's free hand at her friends. They all wave back but Jade raises Cat's hand high above her head to wave, mimicking the way Cat does it. Cat and Jade run up to each other and hug tightly, equally squealing in happiness. [Two Cats are **worse** than one]

Victoria rolls Jade's eyes at the sight and turns to Beck. "Could I talk to you for a moment, Beck?" she asks softly. Beck rubs his arm then looks to Jade/Cat who's still engrossed in her hug. "Can't it wait till lunch?" he returns, keeping his eyes on his girlfriend in her best friend's body. Victoria emits a low growl and narrows her eyes to Beck. "The first time was a question," she begins darkly, "Now I'm _demanding_." With Jade's intimidation, Beck caves.

[The badass bitch is still here]

With an exasperated sigh, he grabs her arm and leads her into an empty classroom.

"_What_?" he questions as the door closes behind Victoria/Jade. "Don't talk to me like that," she hisses with a mean glare. "I only want to talk." Beck crosses his arms. "Then talk," he orders. Victoria takes in a deep breath. "We've known each other for two years now," she begins, "And I like to think we're close as friends. But I…I don't know if can do this anymore, Beck. I just…" She cuts herself off and decreases the distance between them to kiss him gently on the lips. .:Sparks fly:. When she backs away, he stares at her with wide, confused eyes.

"You could have said something to me," he says. She shakes her head. "I couldn't," she retorts. "You're Jade's. That, and I was scared; I didn't want to ruin our friendship or make things awkward for anyone else. But these feelings…they're hitting me like a brick." Beck doesn't speak and Victoria sighs. She shakes Jade's head. "I shouldn't have said anything," she insists looking away from him.

She begins pacing back and forth. "I-I know Jade's pregnant with your child, and I _know_ we're friends, but it's too hard for me. This is killing me inside…"

Beck steps forward and gently grabs Jade's arms to keep Victoria from pacing any more. "Tell me how," he insists. Inside, he's pleased to know she feels the same for him and she feels the terrifying amount of love that he feels. "We've only ever had one kiss," he reminds her. "So how?" She sighs and looks away from him. "I don't even know," she responds. "I guess it was just seeing you with her every day and I realized I wanted what she had, to be yours, for you to be mine." Her face drops and a tear begins to fall when Beck wipes it away.

"Don't," he pleads softly, "Please, don't be sad."

He lifts her head.

"I just…I feel like an idiot," she tells him.

She pulls away from him and sits down in an empty desk, cradling her head in her hands. "Again, I'm not sure as to why you're stuck on me," Beck points out, walking to Victoria. He kneels before her, bringing them at eye level. "You could have all the guys lining up to be with you if you let them; you also have André."

Victoria slams Jade's hands on the desk and looks to Beck with great scorn. "I don't _want_ them!" she shouts. "None of them want me anyway; they just want someone to get lucky with. André's no different!" Her anger disappears and becomes replaced with sadness. "Most of the time I'm stupid enough to go along with it just so I'm not alone," she adds. She chuckles darkly. "I know André's going to propose to me." She looks up at Beck. "He's not good at hiding the ring. But he knows how I feel about sex. So, he's probably just proposing so I'll marry him and he can get in my pants."

Victoria stands up, wringing Jade's hands. "I just feel so pathetic," she continues, "Acting the way I do. I know it sounds corny, but you make me feel special and happy and…it means a lot to me." She laughs hysterically for a brief moment and walks away from him, continuing to pace back and forth. "I'm really sorry for telling you all this now…_especially_ with the way things are. I just…hate myself for all of this." She looks to Beck. "I love you, Beck and I can't stop."

Beck wraps his arms around Victoria and places his hand under her chin. "Don't hate yourself, Victoria," he pleads softly. "No one can control your feelings. I hate when you're sad. You know as well as I do that you can never control the future or what it holds." Victoria smiles weakly. "Thank you," she breathes.

Her body twitches violently twice and she lets out another loud scream of pain, clenching Beck's forearms tightly with Jade's black claws digging into the fabric of his shirt. "Victoria?" Beck questions loudly in fear. She screams again and Jade's legs falter. _I said get out,_ the voice from before screams louder in Jade's head.

Victoria takes in deep breaths and quickly regains her composure. "I'm fine," she lies softly. She shakes away from the painful twitch and looks to Beck. "I really like you Beck," she begins, "and it really hurts that you don't feel the same for me." Beck sighs, trying to think of something to say. "I've had feelings for you for a while now, Victoria," he begins, "So don't think it's one sided." Victoria/Jade chuckles sardonically. "You don't mean it," she denies.

[Jade's stubborn and hardheaded]

"I swear, Beck," she starts, "You truly are one of a kind…" She crosses Jade's arms and looks away from him. "How's that?" he questions curiously, "I'm the same as every other guy; there's nothing special about me." Victoria/Jade looks to him with eyes filled with hurt and anger. "Don't you _ever_ say that," she orders adamantly. "To me you're special and that's all that damn well matters. You're _everything_ I've ever wanted in a guy, Beck; you're sweet, protective, kind, and funny. You're beautiful inside and out. You make it easy for me to be myself."

Beck looks down at her for a brief moment, staring into her eyes before he leans in and gently kisses her on the lips. It quickly escalates to a more passionate one.

{There's love in the air}

A coughing comes from the doorway, startling the two out of their kiss. They look up to see Sikowitz, their Improvisation teacher, looking at them with crossed arms and a disapproving stare.

(_Erwin James Sikowitz is twenty-four, bald, overweight, and too shaggy to be a normal teacher. The clothes he wears never match and normally consist of multicolored pants and off color long-sleeved peasant shirts. His favorite accessory is a tattered fanny pack always filled with deranged items ranging from coconut shells to pieces of cooked chicken_)

"The classroom is no place for pretty little kisses," he points out in a sing-song voice. "If you absolutely must show your affection for one another, I'd suggest the second floor janitor's closet; Mr. May and Ms. June only go in there during lunch." He laughs. "To think, to think that Bonnie and Clyde would ever end up together, ha! In any case, away with you both! Home room is just about to start, so hurry along little rabbits."

Victoria/Jade and Beck quickly leave the room where she bumps into Jade/Cat. .:_Victoria's uncoordinated no matter _what_ body she's in_:. Jade/Cat turns around and gets a glimpse of her body. "_What_ have you got me wearing?" she asks, taking note of the pink blouse and jean skirt.

Victoria/Jade scoffs and gestures to Cat's body, obviously talking about the black skinny jeans with chains and rips around them under a black corset topped with a small, short-sleeved jacket that covered her exposed skin. "What have you got _Cat_ wearing?" she countered. "You turned our sweet, innocent Cat into the biker chick from hell!" Jade/Cat shrugs. "I guess I didn't get the part of her personality that liked bright colors so I improvised."

The bell rings before anything else can be said and the seven of them head to class with Trina refusing to be around any of them.

_**Lunch**_

Everyone—except Trina—goes to their regular lunch table with their food, waiting for Beck to tell his news about the amulet. They all eat in silence, only the sound of forks hitting plates and the voices of everyone around them being heard. Jade/Cat sits between Victoria/Jade and Beck while André/Robbie sat between Cat/Jade and Robbie/André. For some reason, they all feel awkward being around each other. (And why shouldn't they?)

The silence is **unbearable**.

"Will you _please_ tell us what you found?" Robbie/André blurts out a moment later; he was always one to cave under pressure. Everyone jumps at the loudness Robbie is able to achieve through André's voice and Beck put down his food, though he continues to stare at it.

"I called Valerie," he begins quietly. "I told her about everything and she told me she would look for the amulet. She called me earlier this morning and told me how she went with her husband out to the graveyard where _El Toro Diablo_ was buried. She said they spent hours searching, but found nothing but a bunch of bones."

Everyone sighs at this information but Cat/Victoria doesn't make a sound. [The _knowing_ changes everything]

"So what are we supposed to do? Is there anything else that can help us find it?" Victoria/Jade asked in fear. "I don't want to be stuck in Jade's body forever!" Jade glares at her body. "My body is _perfectly_ fine, thank you," she states adamantly. "Unless you learn how to take care of it then you'll never like it. So _shut up_ and enjoy it." She's a terrifying _little darling_ isn't she?

Victoria/Jade sneers at Jade/Cat. "Why don't you bite me?" she retorts. "I'm so _sick_ of your smart mouth." Jade/Cat stands up. "Yeah?" she yells, shooting up from the table. She slams Cat's hands down on the table in front of Victoria/Jade. "Well I'm sick of you always being a stuck up little—"

"Stop it!" Beck shouts, silencing the girls. Everyone around them looks at them in wonder and curiosity. "If we can't find the amulet, do you two really want to spend the next ten days bickering like fools?" He lowers his voice and Jade/Cat lowers her head; when she sits down, everyone looks away. "I'm sorry for being so mean, Tori," she apologizes. "I'm sorry, too," Victoria/Jade apologizes back. Her body twitches once more; this time she doesn't scream.

[_Victoria is a hand cramp]_

Cat/Tori feels a nudging in her bag; she realizes Matthew had snuck into it earlier in the morning. "I have to go to the bathroom!" she announces as she jumps up from the table and ran back into the school. Outbursts like that are normal for Cat, but there's something fishy going on here. "What's wrong with_ her_?" Jade/Cat asked.

_~*Behind the school with Cat*~_

It takes me a minute, but I manage to get Tori's legs to take me to the other end of the school and behind it. I can't balance being Tori! One time, my brother—oh there's no time for another story!

When I'm behind the school I slide down on the wall to sit and rest Tori's legs. She's not much of an athlete. I dated an athlete once—

"What do you want _now_?" I question really annoyed. Slowly, Matthew lifts open Tori's bag and slowly crawls out of it. He sits beside me against the wall.

"We should get going," he suggests, not answering my question. He doesn't look at me when he speaks. "The second address I showed you last night is right outside Bakersfield," he adds, "And that's two hours from here." He turns to face me. "You can drive right?" I roll Tori's eyes. No one thinks I can do anything! "Yes," I spit.

"Well when we get to the house in Bakersfield," he begins, "I'll need you to park two blocks away and walk the rest of the way. If she knows I'm with you then she'll never give you the amulet. You won't be able to get in anywhere _near_ her if I'm with you anyway. Then I'll need you to take me to Buttonwillow which is an hour from here if we get caught in traffic."

I roll Tori's eyes again. "Why shouldn't I go with 'her' idea with not trusting you?" I challenge. I use appropriate air quotes to further reinforce my skepticism. Matthew narrows his little wooden eyebrows at me. "Are we _really_ gonna do this again?" he inquires. I chuckle darkly and sigh loudly. "If we leave now we can get back by five," I tell him. "Back in the bag and we'll go."

Matthew complies without another word and I grab Tori's bag. I get up from my spot on the floor and make my way to Tori's car.

_~*Almost two hours later I think*~_

My driving skills have gotten better overnight, haha! Tori's body's being really good to me I guess. We make it there faster than the GPS in Tori's car said we would.

I told everyone back at school that I wasn't feeling well and that I was going home; Trina will just have to find a ride home. Right now I've got other things on my mind. I hate lying to people, especially my friends, but I'm really starting to trust Matthew and I can't let him or my friends down. It's either my personality or Tori's that's making me trust him. We're both super trusting girls, and—according to Tori—that's really going to hurt us.

As I drive though, my mind is elsewhere, not on getting in my rightful body. I can't stop thinking about Jade. I _know_ she saw me and Robbie walking into school holding hands, granted we were in an _actual_ couple's bodies, but I hope she didn't read into it. I wish I could just _tell_ her how I feel about her. It's just…I can't do it right now; she's not herself. I'm not myself either, but I could handle talking to her if I was in my own body.

Matthew doesn't bother speaking to me as we ride, so that makes him a bit more suspicious. He finally speaks when we're a little away from the house. "Pull up over here!" he shouts, startling me. He was probably thinking about something else before he realized where he was. I pull over into an empty spot in front of an old library and park Tori's car. "I won't be long," I announce with the paper in my hand.

I step out of the car and start down the sidewalk. After I cross the street, I take off Tori's shoes and continue walking. If I knew where I put her tennis shoes, my feet wouldn't be hurting so bad right now. I don't mind wearing heels, but I don't like wearing heels in a body I'm not used to. I enjoy the warmth of the sidewalk and the cool breeze rustle's Tori's chocolate curls. I arrive at a big yellow house a minute later and check the paper to make sure it's the right house. I put away the paper, head up the stairs, and knock on the door.

A moment later, an extremely pretty elderly lady with gray hair opens the door. She doesn't look older than thirty-five, but somehow I _know_. That and that _Diablo_ guy died fifty years ago. Her smile is as big as my eyes when she sees me standing at the door. (I miss my eyes…)

"You must be Alicia," she guesses. I nod with a warm smile. "Yes ma'am," I lie. I really hate lying. She laughs softly. "Call me Andrea," she insists. I nod once more. "Alright, Andrea." It's weird calling an adult by their first name.

I wring Tori's hands and shift her weight, keeping her shoes in my hands. "I'd like to stay for a while," I begin uneasily, "But I've got a tight schedule." I hate sounding like I'm using people! Mrs. Bartleby nods with a knowing smile and moves aside so I can come in. "Of course, of course, dearie," she says. "Please come in." I nod in thanks and come inside, closing the door behind me.

I look around in awe at the beautiful home around me; it's filled with old furniture covered in doilies and old china in a beautiful stained glass casing and calming colors on the walls and in the rug. "You have a very nice home, Mrs. Bartleby," I tell her. She smiles back to me as she makes her way to a small wood finish box by the stairwell. "This house is all I have left to remember my husband by since our children don't visit much anymore."

I frown with a small gasp. "That's so sad!" I exclaim. I wait for the tears, but they don't come; if I were in my own body, I'd be bawling by now.

Mrs. Bartleby sighs as she opens the box. "It's a living I guess," she retorts. "I get to relive old memories and that's a comforting experience." I crane my neck to see what she's getting and I see her pull out a key. "I'll be right back," she assures me with another warm smile. She goes through the kitchen without letting me speak.

I stand awkwardly for a moment, feeling lonely. Again, if I was in my own body, I'd be screaming my head off because I'm terrified of being alone. But anyway, I observe the pictures all over Mrs. B's house. Some are color photos of her and her late husband and some are in black and white. There are others of her and her children, two girls and a little boy. There are also photos of her children all grown up with children of their own. They all look…happy.

I wish my family was like that…

Mrs. B returns moments later with a smaller wooden box in her hands, tearing me from my thoughts of my family. "Here we are," she announces. "My husband left me a note saying that one day a girl about your age would come for this adorable little necklace, but I could only give it to her if I knew I could trust her; he was a magician of sorts, my husband. And you, dearie, I trust." She hands me the box. "Have a safe journey, Alicia," she hopes. I smile again. "Thank you so much, Mrs. Bartleby."

I balance Tori's shoes in one hand and the box in my other. "It was so nice to meet you," I say. Mrs. Bartleby nods and holds the door open for me. "Thank you again for your help," I say once more with a small curtsey. Mrs. B laughs slightly and I exit. "It's certainly no problem," she tells me. "Be safe, Alicia." She closes the door before I can say anything else and I skip back to Tori's car.

Matthew's little wooden face brightens when he sees the box. "You got it!" he exclaims. I get in the car and buckle my seatbelt, keeping a hand on the box at all times.

"Are you ready to go?" I question, ignoring his enthusiasm. He nods, shifting in his seat. "Buttonwillow is a half hour away," he states with utter anticipation. "Let's go!"

_~*Twenty minutes later*~_

I think I'm turning into a speed demon here. Maybe it was the conversation with Matthew that made the trip speed by. Haha, get it?

He tells me about his childhood, about how his friends ended up the way they did. I've already heard this before even though he thinks I slept through it all. I hear everything when I want to; I was just resting my eyes when he told me the first time.

He tells me something else though: he tells me how _El Toro Diablo_ died and how he left his amulet with Andrea Connell-Bartleby who was "his heart." He left her with two daughters and a little boy that forced her to fight for life while protecting the amulet. Before he died, _Diablo_ put a spell on the house so nothing supernatural could get in. Rex had sent in humans before to get the amulet, but Mrs. B knew about them by looking in their eyes and their posture.

He tells me how, a few years back, he met a witch.

Her name was Tanya and she was only eighteen when Rex killed her. He tried to force her to make a new amulet but she refused. Before she died, she was able to put a protection spell on Matthew so Rex would _never_ be able to hurt him. I feel bad for Tanya, but I think it's a good thing she was able to help Matthew—even if I don't trust her.

"There it is!" he exclaims with glee, completely forgetting about what he was saying earlier. "That's my old house!" I laugh slightly as I pull up two houses away. I open my bag and he climbs in. I open the little box and see an amulet that looks similar to the one Beck broke. I put it on and hide it under Tori's shirt. Then I slip on Tori's stilettos and make my way to Matthew's old house.

I make a little song as I knock on the door and a boy with long, chestnut hair pulled back into a ponytail, a well-muscled body under a sleeveless blue V-neck, jeans, almond eyes, and hard facial features looks back at me expectantly. If I didn't feel anything for Jade, I might go after Matthew once he's back in his own body. "Can I help you?" he asks.

Time to put my acting skills to the test.

"My name's Alicia," I lie again. I don't feel too bad about lying to him. "I was told there was gonna be a bake sale here." I look around him into the house, not really looking for anything. "Did I miss it?" The guy in Matthew's body shakes his head. "There's no bake sale here," he says in a not so friendly manner. I've _obviously_ interrupted him from something oh so important.

I pout. "Could you spare something to eat?" I beg quietly, "I haven't had much money for a while because I've spent it on gas. I'm trying to get to Canada so I can live with grandparents since my parents…" My voice trails off and I start crying softly. I lower Tori's head yet look up through her lashes. I see him look around me then back to me. "Please don't cry," he begs in desperation.

He grabs my—Tori's—arm gently. "Please," he begins, "Come inside and I'll make you something to eat." I wipe away my tears with a sniffle and look up to him. "Thank you," I breathe gently. He nods and ushers me inside, closing the door behind me. He quickly makes his way to the kitchen and I set Tori's bag down by a large armchair.

I make sure the boy in Matthew's body doesn't see Dummy Matthew as he crawls out of Tori's bag and hides behind the sofa. "Do you have any allergies?" Fake Matthew calls from the kitchen. "Nope," I call out to him, replacing the cover on Tori's bag. "I can't thank you again for helping me." I hear him chuckle in the kitchen. "It's no problem at all," he says.

He steps through the doorway with his head down. "At least," he begins darkly, "If you were really who you say you are." Crap, he knows. His head snaps up and his eyes glow a deep red. Darkness covers his facial features. I turn to run, but something—some kind of force—stops me. Then I'm turned around and I see Fake Matthew holding his arm out and his palm facing me.

I just pissed off the _wrong_ evil wizard.

"You _won't_ turn me back!" he snarls. "I've lived in this body for fifty years and I intend to live an eternity more!" I watch silently, trying to keep my focus on Fake Matthew as Dummy Matthew slinks toward him. Fake Matthew opens his mouth to speak when Dummy Matthew bites him on the ankle. I can hear the loud crunch of his skin. Fake Matthew screams in pain and his magic hold on me disappears, allowing me to fall to the ground. I land on Tori's knees and pain shoots through me. Fake Matthew looks to Dummy Matthew with hate in his drooping eyes. "You…bastard…" he mutters weakly.

That's all he can say before he passes out.

"Read the spell now—" Dummy Matthew urges, "—while he's asleep!" I don't enjoy being yelled at. But, I pull the amulet from under Tori's shirt and I pull another piece of paper from my other pocket and prepare to read the spell. "_Spiritus vitae et mortis," _I begin to read._ "Ego beckon te. Fas et nefas accipiet." _The ground begins to shake violently, but I don't falter._ "Pacem, auxilium. Spiritus fuga!"_

The lights flicker for a moment then go out, leaving the sun as the only light in the house. A few birds chirp and I smile. I love birds…and squirrels. I had a pet squirrel once, but Tony had to shoot it because it got rabies.

After a small moment, Matthew's body sits up. "Matthew?" I call softly. Suddenly, I'm worried for him. "Are you okay?" Everything is silent before he lets out a loud groan. "I think so," he responds quietly. The lights come back on and I can clearly see Matthew looking at me. His eyes dart to his hands then his chest and his arms. He looks back to me with a wide, unbelieving smile and pops off the floor like a Pop Tart to hug me tightly. "You did it, Cat!" he exclaims in utter joy. "You did it!"

I laugh loudly and hug him back even though he's hugging a little too tight. After we stop, I look to the dummy on the floor. "What are we gonna do with _him_?" I question. I don't want that thing waking up and trying to attack me because he's _severely_ pissed off. Matthew reaches down to Tori's bag and pulls a large rope from it. "I've got it covered," he assures me with a wide smile. He reaches over and ties up the dummy then shoves it in Tori's bag. He carries it back to her car and we set off back to LA, him keeping his head out the window and admiring the scenery the entire trip.


	5. Revelations

Dedicated to Maddi

* * *

><p>"<strong>Chapter 5-Revelations"<strong>

_**~*Jade*~**_

"I think it was something I ate," Cat says through Tori's grimy teeth. "I'm just gonna go back to Tori's and try to sleep it off. I'll call you guys when I'm feeling better if you want to visit." She gives a weak smile then heads off to Tori's ugly little car. Though I hate Tori, I miss Cat as soon as she's gone. I want to cry, but I know that'll mess my mascara up.

The rest of the day is pretty average, but everyone has trouble adjusting to their new schedules. Obviously I don't; I'm not an idiot. I spend some time with Beck and that makes me really happy. I really love him. Oh gosh! I just remembered the baby! I wonder if it will be a boy or a girl. I miss it, whatever it is.

Once I get home, I get a warm greeting from Cat's parents. They kiss me and hug me, saying their so sorry they've been arguing so much but they're going through their "special" times right now. They give me another kiss on the forehead each then head upstairs. I still hear them arguing and, I don't know why, but tears start falling from my eyes. I run, I don't know where, but I run. I wind up outside looking up at a tree house. I've never seen it before, but for some reason it fills me with happiness. I smile widely and Cat's body twitches. It's a tiny little hurt, but it causes me to gasp and let out a small sob. I quickly run to the tree house and climb its wooden ladder, not bothering to leave Cat's bag behind.

It starts to rain as soon as I sit down on the floor. I drop the bag and a bunch of books fall out. Oh, a pink one! It's probably Cat's diary! I shouldn't read it, but it looks so pretty! There aren't any secrets between me and Cat…but what if I'm wrong?

I guess I'll never know unless I look…

As the rain beats down harder on Cat's tree house, I gingerly open her little pink notebook with her slender fingers. I read fast and I skim over all of her entries in a matter of minutes. A whole bunch of them talk about how much her mommy and daddy fight and some of them are about how she's bipolar; but we all knew that. Near the end, Cat talks about her anorexia and I gasp. So that's why food makes me sick!

Her most recent entry catches my eye…

_Hi again, haha!_

_ Did you miss me? I missed you... You're the only one I can talk to! Especially today...I can't even tell__ Jade__ what I'm about to tell you and __she's__ my best friend. I'm so upset! I don't know what to do!_

_ Sigh..._

_ Things aren't the same anymore. My parents are having one of their bad times and I don't know if they'll get out of it! My brother says Mommy and Daddy are fine, but I hear them arguing at night. Sometimes they talk about a...__divorce__. I don't want my mommy and daddy to get divorced! They're going on some couples' retreat thing so hopefully they'll stop screaming at each other every night. _

_Sometimes when they fight, they scream about my brother and me and it makes me really upset. (They talk about how he ruined their lives 'cause Mommy got pregnant with him at a really young age and they talk about how they hate me because she got pregnant with me when Tony was six; she kept screaming about how she was going to leave my dad when Tony was eighteen. He's twenty-four…) _

_Sometimes when I get upset, I don't eat; food just makes me sick when I look at it. I started to not eat at home...but now I don't even eat at school or anywhere else. I just...don't feel the need to eat anymore. I guess it's better than cutting myself like the people in Jade's books do. I'm too scared to hurt myself like that though._

_ And… I've been really upset lately. I just don't know what to do. You know how much I like Robbie. But I have a really, really, __really__ bad problem. I never told you this, but I...think I love my best friend! I thought I only liked boys, but a week ago...I started having feelings for Jade. They were more than just regular friend feelings! I...I think I like her as much as I like Robbie...and I __really__ like Robbie. I don't know what I'm gonna do... I'm just so worried and sad... I keep thinking about Jade kissing me like she kisses Beck, with her hands running up my body and mine running up hers. I see us doing really…__bad__ things. Gosh, I feel so dirty! I wish I didn't have these thoughts._

_ I've never told you this either, but my hair's not really red! I only dye it like a red velvet cupcake because I get scared that if I keep my hair brown like it normally is, I'll turn out like my mom! People say I look a lot like her, except my hair is really red and hers is light brown. People say I have my dad's eyes, so that doesn't make me feel so bad. I know my daddy loves me, even if Mommy doesn't. I just feel like if I look like my mom, I'll act like my mom. I'm terrified of getting pregnant at seventeen and having to get married really early! I'm terrified of becoming an alcoholic and being forced to do something I hate because I can't have a real job! Sometimes I wish she wasn't my mother…_

_ Oh...There's the bell. I can't write to you in my next class because I need to focus on my singing. I'll talk to you soon though, I promise. You're my closest friend in the world._

_Love always,_

_Kitty_

Oh my God…Cat's in _love_ with me? I…how could I not see it?

Then, the anger bubbles inside me. Part of me is angry because I've been so stupid and selfish and haven't even noticed how Cat feels…now I'm crying. I'm such a horrible person!

I throw Cat's diary into a corner of the tree house and bury Cat's face in her hands, sobbing loudly. I take Cat's bag and use it as a pillow so I can rest my head on the cold, wooden floor. It's either the rain or my crying that puts me to sleep…

_**~*Tori*~**_

Cat left early today, but that's alright I guess. If she's sick then she can rest; hopefully the dogs won't bother her that much. Maybe it's Jade's personality and naturally cynical nature, but I don't think Cat actually went home.

I get back to Jade's house around four; I would have gotten back earlier, but I spent a lot of time with Beck.

(A small side note: I hate driving Jade's monstrous black truck. It's so loud and obnoxious and I miss my car! My car is my baby…)

The majority of my time with Beck was spent making out (which I loved) and the rest was talking about our future. I told him I would try to accept Jade's personality so nothing extremely bad would happen while we looked for the amulet, but it truly hurt that he wanted me to be more like his current girlfriend. Sure, I wasn't trying to end up like a mindless zombie, but I wanted Beck to love me for _me_ and _not_ for being _Jade_. Though I had him, it still felt like he wasn't mine and I was back to square one.

I don't bother with petty words from Jade's big, bulky, balding father—though he's passed out drunk on the couch—and hurry up to her room, slamming the door behind me. Juliette's in her room listening to loud music, so it's good I don't have to bother with her. I'm not in the mood for talking with anyone else.

Once in Jade's room, I take notice of her delightfully devilish décor; fake spider webs—at least I think they're fake, though I hope they aren't—cover the black walls and realistically painted purple skulls. There are hundreds of drawings she's painted on the wall, some too delectably disturbing for words, and her walls are filled with shelves covered in glass jars filled with animal—possibly human—hearts and organs, vials of blood, and necklaces of teeth.

Her bed is like a queen's, large and draped with black lace that hangs from the four podiums surrounding it. Looking at the bed covered in black satin sheets, I notice the podiums are hand crafted with hundreds of scratches and burns on them. Because of Jade's personality, I love this room and feel positively comfortable in it. But me, I hate this room with a passion because I know every little detail that's happened in here between Jade and Beck.

I throw her bag against the wall, causing all of them to shake (cheap pieces of crap), and I fall back on her bed; it's hard as a rock. My eyes trail off to the bag in the corner with the books spilling out of it. I should do Jade's homework; it'll be the first good core class grade she's gotten all year. With a sigh, I get off the bed and trudge to the bag. I start to reach for Jade's tattered math book when I spot a black journal with a dying purple rose on it. "Her journal," I breathe devilishly. Now would be the perfect time to catch up on _all_ her dirty little secrets.

I quickly open it and flip through the pages. A lot of it is about how she's a tortured soul, blah, blah, blah, and how she knows how to be anything else but angry all the time. Her journal's a real snooze fest. I almost toss the useless thing when one entry particularly strikes me.

_October 10th, 2011, 7:50 AM_

_ Today is going to be one of my bad days; I can feel it. Last night, I found out the most shocking news that's definitely going to change everything. I don't know how I can tell anyone. How can I tell my friends, or my parents, or Beck for that matter? We've always been careful; we've always been cautious. I don't know __what__ I'm gonna do. It's a day like this I wish I were never born._

_ But I have to be born, I guess; I have to be alive so I can nourish the life inside me… But still, I don't know how I could tell Beck I'm pregnant... I mean, we've talked about kids before, but we both decided we don't want them until we're both well out of college and able to sustain a home. Last time I checked, college is a whole school year away. I hate when plans backfire._

_ I'm not afraid of many things, if anything at all, but I'm afraid he won't stay once I tell him. God, I hate this. I hate being pregnant and I hate feeling insecure. Beck's never seen me insecure, so I guess that's why I came to my special place; I can really relax here. And if anyone tries to come here, I'll break their face. But how do I tell him? __How__? I love Beck so much, but I'd never want to lose him because of a baby! I could lie to him and say everything's okay, but I could only hide a baby bump for so long. I don't know if I could go through the adoption process either. I'd never forgive myself if our baby wound up in a home like mine…_

_ I know I wouldn't feel this way if it weren't for __her__; she's the reason I'm so insecure. If not for Victoria goddamn Vega, I could tell Beck I'm pregnant and he wouldn't think twice about staying with me. I haven't liked Tori from the moment I met her; from day one, she was flirting with Beck. At first, I didn't think anything of it, though I did get back at her for doing so, but then she __kissed__ him! He claimed he didn't stop her because "it was part of the acting class," but he __looked__ like he enjoyed it. And then, when I broke up with him, he took forever to take me back! Normally, he wouldn't take as long as he did to get me back. I've noticed small changes in how Beck acts too. It's all because of Tori, Tori, Tori!_

_ I've always been against abortion, but your thoughts can change when it's you sitting on that toilet looking at a little pink plus sign. Put yourself in a pregnant woman's shoes and things change. But if I do decide to keep our baby, how can I possibly raise him or her if I'm always worrying about if Beck is going to leave me or not? I'm scared, and I feel like I have no one to turn to. I want to tell Cat, since she's been my like sister since we were five, but I don't know if I can tell her. I love her to death but I don't think she could handle something like this; she can barely handle the stuff in her life, especially with the divorce._

_ Christ, there's the bell. Back in my bag you go. As much as I'd like to stay here and cry my eyes out until I feel better, I can't afford another phone call home saying I skipped class; Daddy dearest won't be too pleased. I'll try to hide how I feel, but I don't know how long that'll last. Here's hoping for the best even though it never comes._

_-Gem_

Ha! She's blaming _me_ for all her problems? Who the heck does she think she is? It's not _my_ fault Jade got jealous when I was only cleaning coffee off Beck's shirt the first day of school. If _Jade_ hadn't gotten so jealous and if _Jade_ hadn't spilt coffee on me, she and I probably wouldn't be where we are right now. It's _Jade's_ fault I kissed Beck in front of our entire Improv class because I only did it to get back at her. It's _Jade's_ fault Beck's _going_ to leave her for _me_.

God, Jade just _pisses_ me off!

I throw the journal down on the ground, mutter a few obscenities, and go to sleep still wearing the clothes I wore to school.

I'm too angry to change.

_**~*Cat*~**_

Matthew and I arrive back at Tori's house around five-thirty; we got home earlier than he thought we would. When I get home, I notice there are no cars in the driveway. I don't even think Trina's home; that saves explaining this stranger to everyone. (I'm not good at lying, and neither is Tori) "Good," I breathe quietly, "No one's home yet." I _really_ need a shower before I do anything else; maybe I'll get food, too, because I'm freaking _starving_!

"Don't you want to hurry to your friends so you can go back to normal?" Matthew questions as we enter the house. I sigh as we head up the stairs. "First I want a shower," I tell him. "Then I might eat something. Thirty minutes won't bother them too much." I leave him in Tori's room and head for the bathroom to take a shower.

The warm water feels so good on my body…well Tori's. She's got bruises from the magic all over; they're starting to form dark purple spots everywhere. (I didn't know magic could leave bruises, though. Just a few days ago, I didn't even know magic of any kind existed, even though I always hoped it did.) It feels weird though, cleaning a body that isn't mine. Tori's actually a bit bonier than me, and it hurts a little to feel her pelvis and her ribs. Tori's not like me, so why is she so skinny? Is this what my body will feel like if I continue to skip out on food? Tori's pretty healthy though, so will I be like her?

I quickly finish my shower and wrap Tori's body in a towel. I go back to Tori's room to find Matthew lying on her bed. He looks up at me and his eyes widen, then he falls off the bed in shock. "Goodness," I exclaim, "Are you okay?" I rush over to him but he has his eyes covered. He groans softly. "Yeah," he answers, "You just shocked me is all." He turns his head from me even though his eyes are closed. "I'll just wait here until you get dressed." I cross Tori's arms and, for some odd reason, I feel insulted that he doesn't want to look at me in this body.

I quickly make my way to Tori's closet and pull out a sleeveless blue shirt and black skinnies. I quickly get appropriate undergarments and dress Tori's body. "You can look now," I say to Matthew in a rather annoyed tone. I turn to him to see his head peer above Tori's bed. Once he sees I've clothed her body, he jumps up on the bed and bounces slightly.

"Wanna see your friends now?" he asks. There's something he's not telling me. I cross Tori's arms. "Why are you being so persistent about it?" I inquire. "Are you looking forward to seeing Tori or Jade? Is that it?" Then I chuckle. "Or _maybe_ you want to see one of the boys." Matthew makes a disgusted face.

He gets off the bed, walks to me, and walks up to me. "It's not that I'm ready to get away from you," he explains with his hands on my shoulders, "You're cool and awesome and stuff, but I think I've got the hots for your scary looking friend." I scowl and keep Tori's arms crossed. "What's that supposed to mean?" I question with tears threatening Tori's eyes. Gosh, that sounds so weird saying it in Tori's voice.

Matthew's face fills with panic and he grabs Tori's. "Don't cry!" he pleads. "You-you and the body you're in are hot too! She's just…I don't know. I feel a little nervous being around her; there's something _terrifying_ about her that I like. No, no, no! You're great too! Please don't be sad." I smirk and wipe Tori's eyes. Boys are so predictable.

I pull away from him and grab the amulet from Tori's bedside table. I slip it on under Tori's shirt and head downstairs. "If you want," I begin as I head to the kitchen to eat some of the leftovers, "I'll talk to her when we're all back to normal and see what I can do." I hear him laugh nervously from the bottom of the stairs and I take a bite of empanada.

After I eat and make him something to eat, we head back to Tori's car. Once inside, I pull out Tori's iPhone and call everyone up—even Beck—so we can meet at Robbie's house. Matthew says that's where we should meet.

_**~*André*~**_

I get a call from Cat and my heart starts skipping beats because I think it's my baby calling me; it sinks when I realize it's actually Cat. She tells me not to leave Robbie's because everyone's gonna be there soon so we can go back to our old bodies. Everyone arrives ten minutes after her call.

My baby and Beck are the last two to arrive. Instead of rushing to me and hugging me tightly like I hoped she would, she practically tries to rip out Cat's eyes; something tells me she's pretty pissed at Jade. If not for Beck holding her back, Cat wouldn't have a body to go back to.

"Who do you think you are blaming _me_ for _your_ problems?" she questions, yelling at the top of Jade's voice. Jade gasps. "You read my journal, didn't you?" she shouts back. Tori struggles in Beck's grasp. "_So what_ if I did?" she spits. She scoffs with a haughty look scrawled on her face. "I don't need your boring little journal to know Beck's gonna leave you in the dust for _me_."

Everyone, including myself, gasps. Time seems to freeze as we all stand looking gawking at her. Did she _really_ just say that? Regardless of Jade's personality, I _know_ Tori has feelings for Beck and has for a while; I never thought she'd do anything about it. And _Beck_, I trusted him. Everyone in our whole damn school _knows_ Tori and I have been a couple for the longest time but he _still_ went after her. If I was in my own body, I'd be seething right now. But Robbie? Nah, he doesn't get mad.

He just freezes up with extreme sadness until it all comes out in some destructive way.

I lower Robbie's head and stare at my feet, trying not to let the sadness be replaced by anger. I cross Robbie's arms, rubbing them slightly. I hear Tori's heels, meaning that Cat's running up to Jade to hug her tightly and keep her from crying.

Then she calls out to me. "André," she whispers. I refuse to look at her. I turn to Robbie's open front door. "Let's get this over with," I spit, ignoring her. She can save whatever she has to say for someone who actually cares.

Cat and this new guy she brought over help a sobbing Jade into the house and I follow them. We're all too concerned with Tori's newfangled venomousness to ask him questions. We all sit down in a circle, except for the new guy and I see Beck carry Tori inside. She must think she's too good for walking if she has to get him to _carry_ her. I make it obvious that I'm avoiding her eyes.

"Is everyone ready?" the new boy asks once we're all in the circle. Cat, in _her_ body, hands him a new amulet. No one speaks; the tension is thick, and it's all _her_ fault. When no one answers, he clears his throat and begins the chant.

"_Spiritus vitae et mortis_," he starts. "_Ego beckon te. Fas et nefas accipiet_." The world begins to shake around us and I close Robbie's eyes to calm down. "_Pacem, auxilium_." The shaking gets worse and he needs to shout over the rocking of the room. "_Spiritus fuga_!"

The violent shaking stops and I open my eyes just as wind slams into this new boy, knocking him against the door of Robbie's closet. All the girls gasp and Cat shrieks in _her_ body. She quickly crawls to his side as he's rubbing the back of his head, his eyes clenched shut. "Are you okay?" she asks softly. I feel hate rising inside me just from the sound of _her_ voice; that _sweet_, _nurturing_ voice is the voice of a heartless, two-timing _bitch_. "I'm fine," he grunts. He sits up and opens his eyes, looking down at the amulet in his hands. "Everything…you guys should be back to normal…"

"You didn't do everything right," comes a voice from Robbie's closet. I'd stuffed them in their yesterday. There's a kicking and a pained exclamation. Beck gets up from the circle to walk to the closet and opens the door. "Who said something?" he asks with a hard face. I cross Robbie's arms with a sigh. He _has_ to be the hero _all the time_. He could've let Cat or her new friend get the door, but _no_, Beck Oliver takes the backseat to none.

At first, none of five dummies in the closet speaks. Then, the redheaded dummy speaks up. "I said you didn't do everything right," she repeats. "Shut up, Elyse," Rex hisses. Looks like someone doesn't like Rex as much as we don't. She turns to him. "No!" she shouts. "I'm sick of this! I'm sick of being a doll and I'm sick of trying to take over others! I'm sick of not having _my own_ body! Most of all, I'm _sick_ of listening to _you_!"

Rex leans backwards to lunge for Elyse, but Beck grabs her before he could hit her. He quickly shuts the closet and puts her in the center of the circle before taking his original spot. "Talk," he orders. He could be a little nicer to her since she _is_ going to help us out…

Elyse sighs. "I'll talk," she begins, "But could you do something for me?" Beck eyes her with a scowl. "We won't bargain with body snatchers," he states adamantly. "Hear her out," I order. Everyone looks to me crossing Robbie's arms and leaning against one of his bedposts. "If she's willing to go against Rex to help us then the least we can do is return the favor." Elyse looked smiles softly at me. "Thanks," she says.

She turns to Beck. "Please help me," she pleads softly. "You don't have to steal someone's body for me! I know a spell that will let me have my old body back, without having magic! I just want to be able to die again." By the looks of her, she'd be shedding the Nile if she could cry. "I hate this life!" she cries out. "I just want to be human again..." Her sobbing drowns her words out.

"She's telling the truth," Cat's friend states, still beside Cat. All eyes look to the stranger. "I remember reading a morphing spell, but only someone pure at heart can do the spell. I know how to do it, so I could teach one of you."

Jade stands up, staring down at him. "But who the heck are you?" she questioned. "How can we trust you? Why are you here?" I suppress a laugh because, honestly, Jade's trying to be intimidating in the _least_ intimidating body ever. She walks over to Cat and her friend, standing over the boy.

"You can trust him," she assures her Jade, looking up at her with a wide smile. "He was a normal person like us trapped inside that blonde dummy that wanted Beck's body. I helped him track down his old body. He only wants to help us." Jade rolls her eyes and walks back to her spot beside me and Beck.

"We'll help you," Cat tells the dummy—I mean Elyse. "But how do we get back to our old bodies?" Elyse struggles in her ropes slightly, probably a twitch. "No!" Rex roars from the closet. Elyse ignores him to answer the question. "When you all came here," she begins, "There were _seven_ of you in this circle; now there's only _six_. That annoying girl who was with you the first time needs to be present in order for the reversal spell to work."

_She_ sighs; I still refuse to look at her. "Trina's _never_ gonna come here," she states. "She refuses to believe _any_ of this is happening..."

"Then we'll have to _make_ her believe it," Cat suggests. She stands up and straightens out her jeans. "I'll go talk to her and try to get her here," she announces. "But we'll have to try this tomorrow after school." I sigh; I _really_ don't wanna wait that long.

"I _really_ don't want to wait that long," I whine. "I miss my body and my bed and my stuff." I turn to Robbie. "No offense though." He just nods it off without saying anything. Sometimes, I really wanna know what's going on his head…

Everyone else gets up from the circle and Cat picks up Elyse, cradling her like a baby. "You can stay with me tonight," she coos. Again, I feel the pang of betrayal. I hate Tori… Elyse smiles with wooden lips. "Thank you so much," she thanks.

Jade pushes past _her_ with Beck, Cat, and Cat's friend right behind; I refuse to acknowledge her as Robbie and I stay behind with the closet full of possessed dummies…


	6. Waiting

Dedicated to Maddi

* * *

><p>"<strong>Chapter 6-Waiting"<strong>

_**~*Tori*~**_

I feel awful about what I said to Jade earlier. I know it was horrible to do, no matter what body I'm in. I shouldn't have said it to her; I shouldn't have said it. I wish I could take it all back…

I'm too upset to be alone right now, so Beck lets me stay with him for the night. I don't bother telling Mr. West where I'm going to be, but then again I don't care if he knows. He's not _my_ alcoholic father. I did tell Juliette, though, even though she already figured I'd be with Beck. It seems Jade tells her a lot about her boyfriend. I wish I could tell _my_ sister about stuff like that, but _no_, Trina's too stuck up for that.

Beck and I do spend the night together, but most of it is more than likely gonna be filled with me crying and him saying anything to cheer me up. That's how it'd be if I was in my own body…

"I feel so horrible," I sigh out once I'd settle down enough to stop crying. Jade's body twitches sharply, sending pain all through me, but I suppress my scream of pain.

Beck holds me close on his bed and rubs my back gently. "You didn't mean to say it," he assures me. "Jade's personality just took over for that moment and it was her that made you say it."

I sigh with a small gasping sob; it's easy for him to see the truth in all this.

"I don't wanna be like Jade," I confess. "I want to be myself again!" He kisses my forehead and tucks some hair behind Jade's ear. "Hopefully Cat can convince Trina to come with us," he hopes in a calm voice. "Then you'll be back in your own body in no time."

I pull away from him; there's something I _need_ to know.

"Will you still want me when I'm Victoria again?" I ask softly. He stops moving and looks away from me; he's silent for a moment. I know this is a tough question. I'm asking him to leave a lot behind here and make something new with me.

I can't help but wonder though.

Would Beck really still want me when I'm back in my body? I mean honestly, Jade's got a better—fuller—body than I do; she's so much prettier than me. Aside from that, can he really leave Jade alone and pregnant, a time where she'll need him the most? She's strong, I know she is, but she'll need someone there for her. Will it be him?

"Jade's really going to need me," he finally answers after a long moment of silence.

That settles it. He's made his choice.

I still want to push it, though.

"You can still take care of the baby while being with someone else," I tell him; I'll keep my case strong and convince him to be with me!

Beck sighs. "I can't," he says with a lowered head. I feel his heart beating a slow, melancholic thump softly against Jade's shoulder. "I wasn't raised to handle things like that; I have to stay with her and raise our child together, even if I start to like someone else."

I smile bitterly to myself. "At least you like me," I mutter. Gotta find the positives, right?

I rest my head on his shoulder and we don't speak for the rest of the night.

We fall asleep in each other's arms.

_**~*Cat*~**_

Jade was really hurt after what Tori said to her; I don't really know if I feel sorry for her or not. Being in Tori's body, I realize how much she loves Beck and how he loves her. But Jade's been my friend longer than Tori! I should be taking _Jade's_ side…

I offer to let her stay the night with me; Mrs. Vega won't mind and I know my parents won't care.

My personality really takes a toll on her because she cries for a really long time! Matthew's with us though, so that helps. (One of the good things about Jade sharing my personality is that she won't care if he holds her, brushes my red hair—that I miss so much!—away from her/my face, and wipes her/my eyes when more tears fall.)

I know exactly how she's feeling right now and she's in the _midst_ of despair. But Matthew, he's really sweet for trying to stay with her for a bit.

I let Elyse ride in my lap as I drive back to Tori's home and she's really fascinated by the "new" car. We get home and no one's there; I think Tori's parents are having a date night or something.

I quickly take everyone up to Tori's room and Jade quickly runs to Tori's bed, curling up in a tight ball. Matthew walks to her and she grabs his hands to pull him down on the bed in front of her where she then buries her head in his chest.

Elyse and I take a seat on the floor a few feet away from them.

"So how do I do this?" I ask as Jade sobs quietly from the other side of the room. Helping Elyse become human again is the least I can do, right?

"Close your eyes," she instructs, "Then picture me as a real person."

I cross Tori's legs Indian style and close my/her eyes after pulling the amulet from under her shirt.

"Good," Elyse breathes. "Now picture me with long, red hair—a little lighter than your friend's over there—and human arms and legs. Think of me without a body made of wood. Think really hard about it, okay?"

With my/Tori's eyes closed, I think of someone really pretty and make myself believe she's Elyse. She's got long red hair maybe longer than mine that curls softly at the ends, shocking blue eyes and two perfect little dimples as compared to my one.

Then the room starts shaking softly and Jade cries out. "What's going on?" she cries in my high pitched voice. I know if I answer her, I'll break my focus.

The shaking gets a little rougher then stops and everything gets darker through my closed eyes.

Everything is silent for a moment then there's a small laugh.

"You can open your eyes now," she tells me softly. I slowly open them to find the beautiful girl I pictured in my mind with the long, curly red hair, dimples, a face full of freckles and shocking blue eyes staring back at me in glee.

She doesn't look a _day_ over seventeen.

Elyse touches her hands, then her face with disbelieving eyes, and lunges for me, hugging me tightly. "Thank you, thank you, thank you!" she yells in utter joy.

She climbs from off me and bounces over to Jade and Matthew. "Are you better now?" she asks sweetly. Jade sighs and keeps her head on Matthew's chest, not looking at Elyse. "I guess," she answers softly. "He's been doing a good job of keeping me calm; he's been really nice." I smile watching them from my place on the floor.

"I'm glad you're feeling better," Elyse says in slight relief.

She playfully punches Matthew's arm. "You really know how to pick 'em, don't you?" she questions with a smirk. Matthew blushes slightly and looks away. "I just thought she needed some strong arms to cry on," he mutters. Jade smiles warmly and nuzzles into his neck. "He _is_ pretty strong," she breathes.

"God I'm _starving_!" Elyse exclaims, bouncing up and down, ruining the moment. I climb up off the floor with a loud grunt and walk to Elyse. I grab her hand.

"Come on," I offer, "I'll take you to the kitchen and make you something to eat." Elyse grins widely, and starts bouncing up and down again, her curls flying around like wildfire.

_**~*Jade*~**_

Elyse is pretty funny! She's so full of life…just like Cat! I love Cat, haha.

But then they leave me alone with…I don't even know his name, haha!

I pull away from him a little and look up to him. "Thank you for being here for me," I say once Elyse and Cat are gone. He smiles down to me and rubs my/Cat's arm; it reminds me of how Beck used to rub my arm when we laid in his bed in his room, but I hold back the burning tears. I'm a lot stronger than Cat is…

"It was my pleasure," he says softly. "You need someone who'll be there for you and I want you to know that if you need it, I'll be here." I sigh satisfied and nuzzle my/Cat's head back into his neck. "It's funny how I feel so comfortable with you when I don't even know your name," I state. Maybe it's Cat's personality making me like this…but I like it. It feels good to be able to trust people…

"My name's Matthew Donovan," he tells me, his voice barely above a whisper. "It feels amazing to say that…"

I chuckle slightly. "It's nice having a gay friend, Mattie," I breathe. Two, I guess, haha.

Matt's back stiffens and I look up at him in confusion. "Are you okay?" I ask with wide eyes. He takes a deep breath and climbs off the bed. I rest on Cat's arms looking up at him with her big eyes.

"You're comfortable with me because you think I'm gay," he answers looking away from me. I look down at Cat's freshly black fingernails. "Oh," I breathe.

Well, I feel pretty damn stupid…

I climb off the bed and walk to him. "I'm sorry," I apologize. "I just…"

Matt chuckles and interrupts me. "It's okay," he says. His face falls. "I gotta say I'm a little bummed, though," he adds. "I thought you were warming up to me because you liked me."

Then I feel a disarray of emotions running through me; I'm happy, nervous, excited, and flustered all at the same time! I lower Cat's head to hide the blush on her face. "Does that mean you like _me_?" I ask softly. If I really was Cat, I would've taken _forever_ to realize he was coming onto me.

Matt takes a moment to respond. He takes a deep breath and starts to wring his hands.

"Before I met you," he starts, "I was forced to spy on you and your friends. Rex trusted me to watch all of you in your original bodies. I was amazed by how interesting and beautiful and dark you were, but I was only two feet tall then; there was no way I could talk to you like I was. That and you were with that Beck guy…if you're not with him now."

He grabs Cat's hands but they warm me deep inside. "I'd you more than you think, Jade," he says softly. "I'd do anything for you."

I blush and look away. How do I say this to him? _What_ do I say to him? I'm…so confused! Choosing isn't easy.

"I…I love Beck," I finally tell him. His face falls slightly.

I pull him close to me and we sit on the bed. I place Cat's head on his shoulder. "But," I quickly sigh, "Beck doesn't love me the way he used to, and I guess you knew that. He showed me today that he wanted to be with someone else."

I sigh and close Cat's eyes. "You know I'm pregnant, right?" I question. I tend to say anything to push people away from me. That's how I don't get hurt.

He starts to move and I look up to see him nod with a weak smile. "That doesn't matter to me," he assures me. "If you let me, I'd help you raise your child like he was my own." He really has a way with words, so I smile back at him. "Or she," I add softly. He chuckles lightly.

"Or she," he repeats.

Then we sit there for a small moment just looking into each other's eyes. I feel…actually, I don't know what I feel. I think I like Matt—I wonder if he'll let me call him that—but I _love_ Beck. How can I just let him go like that?

Whatever it is, I'm drawn to Matt and we slowly lean into each other. He places a small kiss on Cat's lips, warming me all the way to my soul toes!

_**~*Robbie*~**_

I missed being in my house and sleeping here—part of the reason why I don't sleep over at other people's houses—because I feel safe at home in a weird way.

But with Rex and three other dummies whining in my closet, I don't think I want to be around; André shares my sentiments.

When everyone else left, the Dahlia one started crying because Cat/Tori took Elyse, Rex became engrossed in shouting foreign languages to the sky, the girl blonde dummy kept shouting at us to take her with Cat, and the KISS dummy was singing none other than a KISS song; the blonde boy dummy…I guess he was in Tori's car somewhere or something.

So yeah, after five minutes of that, André and I thought we'd go insane if we didn't get the hell away from them. Luckily I convinced André's crazy grandma to let him stay with us for the night.

For the most part, we hang around playing some of his video games again. Then I feel the urge to speak my mind.

"I thought being a bro would be _cool_," I confess as I start beasting on him in COD. I sigh as I shell out a few rounds. "But the ladies _just_ don't seem to love me." I end up beating André at the game and he tosses his controller to the ground, falling back on his bed.

"You got the looks," he points out with a small laugh. "You just gotta work on your personality. You're _kinda_ freaky." I sigh dejectedly. He's right; I really _am_ freaky. I'm just seven inches away from being the freakiest guy in the school!

"I can't help it if girls think I'm weird," I state honestly. I look to him with pleading eyes. "Can you help me be cooler?" André laughs slightly again. "It ain't somethin' you can learn," he says. (It's so _weird_ hearing him say it in my voice, you know? I miss my body.) "You either _are_ or you _aren't_. Just try to be…less freaky."

I get off André's bed and fall into a beanbag chair. "That's easier said than done," I tell him. "Being normal is hard…"

_**~*Tori*~**_

I'm reluctant about going to school the next morning (in Jade's body or my own) after waking up in Beck's arms. I don't know how I'm gonna be able to face Jade or André after what I said yesterday… I feel horrible about hurting André more than anything! I was going to tell him in private how I wanted to take a break, but I hoped it would be in a secluded place and we were in our own bodies, you know?

I don't know if I can do this…

_**~*Beck*~**_

When I wake up in the morning, I feel Victoria stir in my arms. She groggily gets up and sits on the bed with a dejected look. I wrap my arm around her and she looks at me with melancholic eyes that said she doesn't want to go to school.

I don't blame her, I guess. What she said really hurt Jade and, being in Cat's body, Jade was quick to believe I was leaving her when I got the chance.

That was honestly the last thing on my mind.

Sure, my feelings for Victoria were constantly growing, but I love Jade with all my heart. I planned on marrying Jade one day, but now I'm not so sure if I want her to take my last name. No matter how I feel, I promised Victoria I'd stay with Jade and help raise our child; that's how I was raised.

I'll see today if Jade will talk to me at school, but I doubt Cat's personality will let me do that; she's usually either afraid of confrontation and avoids it at all possible costs or she'll cry when she sees me. Hurting Jade, no matter what body she's in, is the last thing on my mind.

Only time will tell…

_**~*Jade*~**_

I'm still upset about yesterday, but I guess I'm okay. Cat's personality wants to keep me upset, but my own personality fights it. Her personality gets over it quickly, just like the real Cat would have done.

I spent all last night in _her_ bed and fell asleep in Matt's arms while Cat and Elyse slept on the floor. Before I fell asleep, I had the time to think about myself and the future.

I realized I'm always gonna love Beck, but if he wants to move on then I shouldn't stop him. He can do whatever he wants and if he feels the flame is dying then it's dying. We've broken up before, but now it feels like the last breakup.

What scares me is how fast I'm getting attached to Matt in such a short amount of time. I feel _unbelievably_ safe in his arms and…I just feel like he loves me back. But can I love him back? I feel like I do, but how can I be sure things won't change when I'm back in my body?

Last night as I tried to fall asleep, I kept worrying if Matt was truly serious when he told me he'd stay with me in my pregnancy. Every time I thought about it, Cat's personality would upset me. I would quickly wipe away the tears or silence my small cries so I wouldn't wake Matt.

The time to myself helped me realize I want to be with Matt more than I want Beck…

_**~*Cat*~**_

I can't _wait_ to go to school! I get to see all my friends again and I get to introduce them to Elyse! She seems more excited than I am to go to school!

When I wake up, I'm in such a good mood, despite what happened yesterday. I'm happy about everything; I don't even mind living Tori's life! I mean, what's not to be happy about? I gained two friends and classmates—because Matthew managed to get himself enrolled in school with Elyse—and I spent all last night thinking about how I was gonna tell Robbie how I truly felt about him!

Since I'm in Tori's rational body, I can think clearly. I realize now that, though I love Jade more than a friend or sister, a sibling relationship is the most I'll ever get from her. I'm okay with that actually.

But Robbie, he'll be there for me and he'll keep me safe—if he feels the same for me, which I think he does.

That's why I'm _happy_!

_**~*Robbie*~**_

I'm nervous about going back to school. Then again, I'm always nervous about seeing Cat. For years I've loved her and that's why I never used my ventriloquism to let Rex hit on her or talk about her like he does with every other girl.

Every day I think about going up to Cat and telling her how I feel. I keep playing the scenarios, both good and bad, over and over in my head. As much as I love her, Cat's oblivious to notice how I feel; she'll _never_ make the first move if—by some miracle—she feels the same for me. I've asked her out before, but she shot me down with this excuse that she had some other plans.

Maybe she doesn't like me. Maybe I'm just being stupid.

André's giving me some hope though.

Because of his advice, I'm making it my personal mission to stop being 'freaky' and be a normal guy; and any _normal_ guy would go up to the girl he likes and tell her how he feels.

I just hope I don't piss my André's pants out of nervousness…

_**~*André*~**_

I really _don't_ want to go to school today. Why would I want to? Yesterday the love of my life ripped my heart out and smashed it with a glass bottle. And because she likes _Beck_, my _former_ best friend, my heart's been charred and crisped! Beck knows how much I care about Tori—he went with me when I bought the ring!—yet he still went after her! That's one of the _lowest_, _dirtiest_ things you can do to your 'best friend.'

How can I face them? I can't, that's how. I can't do this shit.

I can't deal with this.

{Someone's got a _secret_}

Matthew, can he be trusted? Not with two secrets he can't.

One secret, our six protagonists already know. They know Matthew Donovan used to be trapped in a dummy's body for fifty years and he was now enrolling in HA as an exchange student from Texas with his estranged cousin Elyse (who wasn't really his cousin and also used to be a dummy for nearly a century).

.:None of that matters, though:.

Matthew's other secret is about **Jade**.

He wishes he'd told her last night, but Cat's personality wouldn't like that one bit.

It looks like a certain someone promised a certain pregnant someone he'd stay with her and raise her baby even if it wasn't hers—if she gave him a chance.

If the circumstance were different, that's what he'd be doing.

Let's look at this from an analytical stance so we can find the problem: a baby barely in the uterus cannot survive without its mother; it's barely considered alive. The baby is created for its mother, in this case Jade, and thrives on her soul until they split and the baby is born. To phrase it nicely, Jade isn't Jade so they baby is no more.

Too bad, so sad.

Matthew thinks when he gets Jade back in her body, she'll think it's nature taking its course and he'll be there to comfort her.

{She won't suspect a thing}

But even if he does that, he'll have to live with the guilt of knowing and not saying anything. He'll just have to wait until Jade's back to normal and see where life takes him.

But I digress.

Elyse is the first to enter the school. She bounces through the doors with wide eyes and an eager smile. (Little Miss Sunshine) The pink, off shoulder blouse and jean skirt she borrowed from Tori's closet pops like her personality and says '_I'm thrilled to be alive and breathing_!' Everyone stares in awe at the natural redhead bounding through the school—the boys marveling over her stunning beauty that would give Jade a run for her money—but no one speaks to her. They don't have anything to say to her right now (besides drooling over her, but that's not a language).

Luckily for Elyse, she knows how to sing. .:We don't need another Trina around:.

Elyse hums as she skips down the halls, searching for her barren and undecorated locker. Eventually she finds it beside a locker with a small keyboard for a door. As she's feeling around her locker, enjoying the cool metal on her fingertips, Robbie/André walks up to André's locker. He puts André's fingers to the keys and tries to play the notes, but fails epically.

{You can't pass off a wolf for a sheep}

"Having problems opening the owner's locker?" she questions with a small chuckle. Robbie looks to her in shock. "How do you know it's not my locker?" he asks defensively. He eyes her over with curiosity. "And who _are_ you?" (Where _are_ his manners?)

Elyse holds out her hand for him to shake—which he does. "The name's Elyse Connor," she answers coolly. "My cousin and I just transferred here from Texas." She knows she doesn't have to lie to Robbie, but she doesn't want anyone to know who she _really_ is just yet. Most of all, she doesn't want him to go blabbing to every Tom, Dick, and Harry around.

.:He can't be trusted with a secret:.

Elyse is pretty darn surprised Robbie hasn't recognized her, though; the dummy was—more or less—the spitting image of her former body…

"I'm R-André Reynolds," Robbie lies as he shakes her hand. Elyse smiles at his little slip, seeing past his adorable lie. "It's nice to meet you André," she greets, "I really like your school." Robbie nods André's head in a fluster. "I…it…we…yeah," he stumbles out. He isn't attracted to Elyse, but she's hot and Robbie still has trouble talking to hot girls, even in this new body.

"André!" Cat screams in Tori's voice as she waves to him from the school's entrance. Robbie looks past Elyse to see Cat smiling brightly and running toward him. He smiles just as brightly as she does.

"Is that your girlfriend?" Elyse questions, snapping him from his daze. (_Casual conversation is key, don't you think?) _Elyse's bright green, cat-like eyes startle Robbie into blathering again. "I…uh…she…we…no," he sputters out dejectedly. Then Cat comes up to Elyse and hugs her tightly as both girls giggle.

"You move pretty fast, Elyse," she points out. Elyse just shrugs with a smile. "I was just excited to start school I guess. It's been a while." Robbie doesn't know _what's_ going on right now and looks between the girls in confusion. "You two know each other?" he inquires. Cat and Elyse exchange glances before Cat giggles like she normally would—that adorable, high-pitched giggle that sounds awkward in Tori's voice—and smiles at Robbie. "You remember the dummy I brought home last night?" she prompts. Robbie nods and Cat nods her head to Elyse with a knowing smirk.

André's mouth drops wide open. "But how is she human?" Robbie asks in awe. Elyse answers this time. "I taught Cat how to turn me back to normal," she answers. "This is what I looked like when I was seventeen and wasn't a dummy." Robbie opens André's mouth to say something else when his counterpart walks up to André's locker before playing the notes to open it. He wears a solemn look on Robbie's pale face. He doesn't notice the bystanders at his locker.

{Someone's in a bad mood}

Cat taps on André/Robbie's shoulder. "Hey meanie face," she calls to him. His back stiffens slightly at that voice, but his shoulders relax when he remembers who's controlling the voice.

"Hey y'all," he greets slightly glum. It's normal for them to hear a glum tone in Robbie's voice, but it's weird hearing André's words. Before anyone else can respond to him, a milky voice as sweet as honey calls out to him.

"Hey, André…"

Her voice, barely above a whisper, is new to him. He feels her voice is directed to him, though he's not in his own body. Slowly, he raises an eyebrow then looks past Robbie to find the curly haired, redhead smirking at him. In an instant, his eyes widened and any attempting word becomes lodged in his throat.

[The face of an angel]

"H-hi," he finally stutters out. He holds out a pale, shaking hand to this new redhead with dazzling blue eyes. "N-nice t-to m-m-meet y-you." This is the first time in André's life that he's ever been tongue tied.

(Tori never did that)

Elyse giggles slightly and shakes his hand. "I'm Elyse," she says with flirting eyes. She steps closer to André and locks her fingers in Robbie's curly hair. She brings her lips close to Robbie's ear before she speaks again.

"I'm the dummy Cat took home last night…"

.:She's got him bewitched and it's not even eight o'clock:.

Again, Robbie's body stiffens. André's at a loss for words. What do you say when you find an attraction to a girl who used to be a malevolent wizard? He definitely feels an attraction.

Lucky for him, he sees Beck enter the school with Tori/Jade clinging to him.

[Nothing like **betrayal** to make you forget about the _temptress_ in front of you]

André pulls away from Elyse and snatches his books from his locker before slamming it shut and walking away without another word. The two girls and confused boy stare on after him. "What's wrong with him?" Elyse asks dejectedly. She had her eyes set on him and he…

Doesn't…

Want…

Her…

Cat/Tori turns around—she knows why he left—and waves to Beck and Tori/Jade with a wide grin. Beck waves back before he notices Elyse.

"What's your name?" he asks, getting right to the point. Tori distorts Jade's face into a grimace and tightens her nails into his forearm. No one notices it, though, and Beck ignores it. He's used to things like that from the real Jade.

Elyse looks Beck over, taking in the sight of him now that she isn't two feet tall, before answering him. She holds out her hand with a warm, non-flirting smile and calm blue eyes. "The name's Elyse Connor," she announces. "I used to be a dummy." There's no point, really, in her using her last name if she's just going to tell everyone who she really is.

By now, she's forgotten her real last name…if she ever had one at all.

Jade's eyes widen. "Wow," Tori breathes, scanning the redhead over, "You look amazing!" Elyse beams with happiness and wraps her arms around Cat/Tori's shoulders, resting her head on Tori's. "It's all thanks to Cat," she says.

.:Cue the confusing giggle:.

"Where's Jade?" Beck asks suddenly, looking around the group at André's locker. Cat/Tori smiles before she answers. "She's still in the car with Matthew," she gushes with another giggle. "I think they're—" she makes kissy faces "—kissing!" Both Beck and Jade's eyes widen in shock.

"Kissing?" they ask simultaneously. Elyse laughs airily. "Those two couldn't keep their hands off each other," she jokes. Unfortunately for Beck, she's not joking. His face falls with the realization that Jade has moved on.

Little Miss Tori on the other hand isn't sure _how_ to feel. Should she feel sorry for Beck since she knows he isn't completely over Jade yet, or should she be happy that Beck is all hers now? She smirks to herself and receives another painful twitch. _Leave him alone!_ that deep voice demands. The pain is head splitting and she lets out a loud shout, gaining a few glances from passersby.

"Tori?" Beck hisses in worry. Tori holds Jade's head, staring at the blue flats she's put on Jade's manly feet. Through her lashes, she sees Beck reach out for her and swats his hands away. "I'm fine," she growls. She takes Jade's hands away and regains her composure. "It's just a headache."

Beck opens his mouth to say something, but a dead silence falls upon the front of the school. Slowly the whispers rise, but they spread like wildfire. The group of five turns to the front door to see what the commotion is about

[_**Show time**_]

From the looks of it, Cat—redheaded, bubbly, ditzy, totally in love with Robbie, _Cat_—walks in the school with a devilishly handsome stranger with semi-long chestnut hair, delicious brown eyes, and a stunning body that would make Beck run for his money. They don't hold hands though; Jade decided it would be better if they put a hold on the PDA factor while she was still in Cat's body.

Everyone wants to know who this new boy is and why he's walking in with Cat. The _least_ he could have done was let her walk in a few seconds before she did. But _no_, Jade likes to cause a scene and she forced him to walk with her.

.:And yet Matthew loves her:.

Cat/Tori runs up to the both of them as girly gossip and annoyed—yet utterly manly—groans float around like popcorn. She grabs their hands and smiles widely. "I thought you two would never come inside!" she exclaims. Of course it sparks a few more murmurs.

(Who is this guy? Why does Tori know about him? Why was he with Cat and _what_ were they up to?)

"We were just talking," Jade/Cat lies. She wants to squash the rumors where they are because she knows all ears are on **her**.

The three start walking to the others as conversations stray from them. Once Jade gets to the locker where the other four are, she makes eye contact with Tori and neither girl says anything.

Then Jade turns to Beck.

{Here we go}

"I know you like Tori," she states slowly. Beck holds his breath, feeling the hairs on the back of his neck standing on end. "And you know I'll always love you," she continues. "But if you want to be with Tori then that's one-hundred percent okay; I completely understand…just like I hope you'll understand that I want to be with Matt."

.:Cut this tension with a knife:.

After a brief silence, Beck clears his throat. "But what about our child?" he asks softly. You can practically _taste_ the hurt in his voice. Jade/Cat smiles like it's obvious. "You knew I'd be okay with raising it by myself anyway," she reminds him. She gently nudges Matthew with her elbow. "But Matt offered to help."

Beck sighs somewhat glumly. "If that's what you want…"

Jade/Cat gives him a wide grin. "I'm glad you understand!" she exclaims. She places Cat's hands on his shoulders and jumps to kiss him on the cheek. She bounces away to her scissor-covered locker without bothering to say anything to Tori.

[That leaves Matthew]

"If you hurt her," he begins in a dark voice that hasn't been used in a _long_ time (once Jade is out of earshot of course), "I'll be sure that you _never_ see the light of day again as a dummy or as a person." He narrows his eyes at Matthew. "Do I make myself clear?"

{An **eighteen year old boy** who used to be a _seventy-three year old dummy_ that used to be a twenty-three year old wizard knows how to _**stand his ground**_.}

Matthew glares at Beck, his mouth falling into a grimace. "I don't need you to threaten me in order for me to treat her how she should be treated," he spits. "I won't leave her for one of her friends like you did." His eyes darted to Tori/Jade and back as he said that. Tori gasps and Matthew walks away with a smug, accomplished look on his face.

Ouch…

Tori holds Jade's mouth and promises herself she's not gonna cry. Beck, being the self-absorbed gentleman he is, turns to Tori and hugs her tightly to keep her from crying. It is…but not really much of…a secret that Tori fears Beck might leave her the way he left Jade. She frets over the wondering that he might sneak around behind her back like he did with Jade, making plans with some other home wrecker. What if—somewhere down the line—she isn't careful with Beck like he and Jade weren't careful and she gets pregnant like Jade did? What if this won't be an endless cycle?

Tori refuses to break her promise not to cry.

As an awkward silence grows among Elyse, Robbie, Beck, Cat, and Tori, a blood-curdling scream pierces the halls, stirring up a panic.


	7. Sabotage

Dedicated to Maddi

* * *

><p>"<strong>Chapter 7-Sabotage"<strong>

Everyone hears the scream.

From all directions of the school, students run to find the source of the scream. Cat/Tori and Beck are the first two to reach the scene; Tori has an amazingly fit body for such a skinny, boney, boyfriend-stealing w…girl.

Tori/Jade isn't far behind as the three come across a girl stumbling through the hall. There's something on her though. Something…

"Trina!" Cat and Tori scream. They run to Tori's big sister, trying to pry a recently escaped Rex from her head. Tori manages to pull him away and Trina clings to Cat for safety.

"Let go wench!" Rex shouts as he thrashes in Tori/Jade's hands. Beck runs up to Tori after dumping the contents of his book bag. "Put him in here!" he quickly orders while Tori tries to keep Rex from biting her. She throws the possessed dummy into the bag and Beck quickly zips it up. Rex continues to thrash around inside though. "Let me out!" he screams. "I'll kill you for this!"

The surrounding students—the ones who nothing about wizardry and demon puppets—stare in awe at the four in the middle of the hallway, trying to figure out what's going on. At least half—if not most— of the students will try to repress the sight while the rest will post it all over the school's social media site to laugh at Trina's terror.

Realizing the eyes on the four of them, Tori nudges Beck in the side. "Get him out of here," she hisses. She snatches her keys from Cat's back pocket and tosses them at Beck. "Lock him in the trunk."

He doesn't even hesitate and races away from the scene of the crime outside. The air is in that weird state where it's neither warm nor cold out. The air is dry, but Beck doesn't care. The only thing on his mind is getting Rex the hell away from the school.

Once arriving at Tori's Volkswagen, Beck throws Rex in the trunk with a loud _thump_ and Rex screams out. "Watch what you're doing you stupid kid!" he shouts. "I can destroy you for this!" Beck rolls his eyes with a scoff. "The only thing you're gonna do is stay in that bag in this trunk until we come back to get you; you're gonna regret coming down here."

Rex tries to shoot out more angered words, but Beck slams the trunk shut hard. Once he hears the click of the lock, he turns on his heels and heads back to the school to find the girls.

By the time he gets there, the crowd has dispersed and seven out of the only nine people that matter in this story surround Trina. Tori/Jade and Cat/Tori have their arms around her as she cries loudly. Jade/Cat stands with Matthew's arm tightly around her waist while André/Robbie and Robbie/André stand around the girls. Elyse stands between Matthew and André/Robbie, standing a little too close for comfort.

"You're gonna be okay, Trina," Cat/Tori soothes while rubbing her back. Tori/Jade also starts to rub Trina's back. "If you help us," she begins in a warm voice, the one Jade stores away for when she wants something important, "We can make sure nothing like that ever happens to you again."

Trina's sobs quickly die down—wait, was that a bad choice of words?—and she sniffles slightly. "I-I d-d-don't w-want t-to b-be in th-th-this," she stutters out through the sobs that refuse to leave. She leans forward and puts her head in her lap, placing her hands on the back of her head. "I don't want to believe in living puppets," she whispers. "I can't believe that my sister isn't even my sister! I don't want any of this to be real…"

[Here it comes, here it comes!]

"Like it or not, it's real!" Tori/Jade snaps as she shoots to Jade's feet. "Stop being such a stupid little, self-centered baby and _help us_! We're being so nice to you right now and offering to help you even though _no one likes you_! If it was up to me, I would have let that little bastard keep attacking you!"

{This is the best kind of drama there is}

Time stands still and all is quiet. No one blinks; no one breathes. Jade's face is trapped in its perpetual scowl and there is no revelation that Tori's done something wrong. Even the stragglers left in the hallway stand wide-eyed with their faces frozen in gasps. Trina still sits hunched over, her frantic breathing and crying at a halt.

They know it's true. They all know Tori is right, but she's wrong for saying it. Trina's that girl, that over emotional girl that you have to walk on eggshells around so you don't hurt her feelings. Though she acts like she's better than everyone, everyone always gives her super subtle hints to let her know everyone hates her.

But now their hatred is out in the open.

After a few deadly seconds, Cat reaches Tori's hand out to the older Vega sister. "Trina?" she calls out. "Come on…she didn't mean it…" But when Tori's hand touches Trina's back, you better believe all hell breaks loose.

Trina shoots up from her spot on the floor and slaps Tori's hand away. "Don't touch me!" she shrieks. She turns to Tori/Jade with tear-stained as well as crazy eyed face along with wickedly messy hair. She points a painted blue finger at Tori/Jade. "And _you_," she hisses. Jade's scowl turns to fear as Tori looks to her sister. "My sister or not," Trina continues, "You're nothing more than a hateful person—_No_! You're not even a person; you're scum. You're scum that feeds off the pain of others. No matter _what's_ going on, you have to make everyone and anyone feel worse than they already do."

She steps closer to Tori/Jade, bringing her voice down. "I can see it in your eyes that you'll die alone. With the way you're acting, that's going to be a _privilege_." She spits on Jade's blue flats and storms off with her heels clicking furiously along the linoleum floor.

.:This is wonderful!:.

Eight people remain at the scene. As they stare after Trina, André/Robbie is the first to speak. Who else should get the honor?

"Jade knows how to piss people off _after_ she gets what she wants," he spits, not looking at Tori. "Looks like you're better at pissing people off than she is, though." He leaves without another word, Elyse hot on his trail. Tori/Jade sighs and leans back against the locker. The lockers squeak as she slides dejectedly down them. She takes in a deep breath and brings Jade's knees to her chest.

"I hate this," Tori whispers as she begins to shake. "I hate not being in my own body!" Jade's hands shoot to her head and Tori clenches Jade's hair tightly.

Beck sits down beside her and wraps his arm around Jade's shoulders. "We'll get you back to normal," he whispers. He moves to rest his chin on the top of Jade's head, but Tori pushes him away.

"_Don't_," she spits.

She stands and brushes away Jade's hair. She quickly spins around and lodges a good right hook into a locker. Tori screams out in pain and holds Jade's hand tightly. She puts Jade's head against the dent in the locker and lets out an annoyed, pained sigh.

Cat/Tori runs up to her and hugs her tightly. Tori slowly snakes Jade's arms around Cat and begins to cry into Cat's shoulder.

[Tori can't stand not having control]

Jade's personality is strong, okay? No matter what she does, Tori can't fight it. Tori's forced to act like Jade and do what Jade does as long as she's forced to be Jade. André means the world to Tori, but Jade forced her to crush his heart to the point where he's going to make it his mission only to talk to her if he wants to insult her.

It's no secret Tori and Jade aren't the best of friends—that's nowhere _near_ a secret—but Tori never wanted to hurt Jade by stealing her boyfriend. She never even meant to steal Jade's boyfriend, but Tori just felt such a strong connection to Beck and couldn't help but act on it.

She loves him.

Most importantly, Tori loves her sister—though she'll never admit it. But what Jade's personality made her say _killed_ Tori. _Tori_ never wanted to hurt Trina. But now, Jade's screwed everything up and Trina won't talk to Tori for a _long_ while.

Now all that's left to do is hope that someone else can convince Trina to go back to Robbie's place so everything can be normal again.

_{Like that'll happen}_

Beck places his hand on Jade's back, standing close to both girls. "We should really get to class," he suggests quietly. Silence falls on them again; no one knows what to say.

Finally, Tori sniffles and wipes her eyes, thankful she isn't wearing the dark make-up Jade normally wears. What she's wearing actually looks good on Jade. Cat/Tori lets go of Jade and Beck wraps his arm around her waist as the six head to class.

_**Two hours later**_

Trina spends at least an hour in the bathroom crying her eyes out. She can't stop thinking about what Tori/Jade/Whoever said to her. She can't stop thinking about how true those words are.

[Revelations, revelations]

When she and Tori were little, she used to steal Tori's toys because they were better than her own; she used to cut the hair off Tori's dolls because they were prettier; she would constantly sneak into Tori's room and mess it up because it was better.

Better singer, better actress, better toys, better room…

Tori's always been better.

Staring at the tear-stained reflection, Trina considers every mean, selfish thing she's ever done in her life. And boy, it's a long list. Ultimately though, she decides to be a better person. Not just for herself, but for everyone she truly loves and cares about.

Trina scrubs away her make-up and heads back to class with her natural look. There's no point, right?

She arrives in the middle of her second period class, but the teacher says nothing and pretends she'd been in class from the start.

Smart move.

Trina pretends to work on a music project when she hears the voice. It calls out to her, but she thinks it's another student so she ignores it.

This voice is persistent.

"Trina," it hisses. "Don't pretend you can't hear me." She looks around to see who's calling, but everyone has their heads down or is talking to someone else. There's no one there…

"You can't change that you're a horrible person," the voice claims. Trina's breath hitches and she closes her eyes, trying to block the voice out. "You have no friends because no one wants to put up with a mean and talentless loser like you! Every day you lie to yourself and say they all love you, when you know deep inside how they really feel."

Trina puts her head down and covers her ears with her eyes clenched tightly shut.

"You think you can just say you'll change and they'll love you?" the voice continues. "They'll never love you! If you help your sister and her friends, they'll never thank you; they'll never talk to you; they'll never stop hating who you've been. You've always been worthless and bitter, and that's what you'll always be."

Tears escape the bottom of her eyelids and Trina throws her desk to the side. It crashes loudly as she leans over in her chair with her hands on her ears, rocking back and forth.

"Shut up!" she shrieks. "It's not true! It's not true!"

Everyone looks to her in shock, thinking she's losing her mind. They don't know what to think; they don't know what to do.

"Trina?" her teacher calls out to her. "Trina, are you alright?" He touches her shoulder and she shoots up from her seat.

"No!" she screams. "Can't you hear it? Don't you hear what they're saying about me?" Panic crossing his elderly facial features, the teacher grabs Trina by her shoulders and looks her dead in the eye. "What are you talking about, Trina?" he questions. "Who's saying what about you?"

Her knees begin to shake and she lowers her head, sobbing now. "I don't know!" she cries out. She's starting to think her story sounds crazy, too. "Why can't you hear it?" she whispers sadly. Her body trembles from the sadness and terror.

"They'll never hear me, Trina," the voice says in its ominous whisper. "Even if they could, why would they listen to you? They already think you're crazy. Now you're just fueling the fire. No one will ever care for you."

Trina snatches her body from the teacher and falls to the ground. "It's not true!" she shouts once more, clinging to her hair. "Leave me alone!"

A few students gasped as she fell and the teacher kneels beside her. "Trina," he calls calmly with a voice barely above a whisper. "Please, listen to me. No one's saying anything hurtful or mean to you; it's all in your head. Do you want to go sit in the office for a bit to calm down?"

Trina looks to him with malice in her teary eyes. "Calm down?" she repeats loudly. "I can't calm down! I feel like I'm losing my mind! If you've been through what I'm going through now then you'd know I can't calm down!"

"M-maybe you should s-see the nurse," the teacher suggests, trying to stay calm. "You can talk to her about what's happening. If someone here is truly making you feel bad, then you'll be able to get away from them. Does that sound good to you?"

The anger retreats from Trina's face and she nods softly. The teacher stands and pulls Trina up as she gives a small sniffle. She holds herself tightly to stop the shaking as she trudges out of the room. She doesn't bother with her things and she doesn't worry with the students who are curious about the girl no one likes.

_~*In the nurse's office*~_

"What seems to be the problem, dearie?" Nurse Hatchet asks with a warm smile as she helps Trina lie down on the little cot. The smile isn't for Trina though; it's for her job.

{Nurse Hatchet is also someone who doesn't take too kind to Trina}

Trina turns on her side and pulls her knees to her stomach. "I was in class," she starts slowly, "and I kept hearing someone saying all these mean things to me…"

Nurse Hatchet rolls her eyes inside her head. She's not fresh out of high-school—being thirty-three with gray hair and deep eyes—but she's lived through all the petty things high school had to offer. And this, this was a petty thing.

"T-then I-I g-got s-s-s-s-so ups-s-set," Trina sobs out. "I-I knocked my d-desk over and panicked." She takes in a deep breath to calm herself. "I…I know I've been horrible," she admits, "But I'm really trying to change."

"You'll never change!" the voice hisses in its mocking whisper. Its velocity startles Trina and she shoots up, looking around with wild eyes. "W-who's there?" she screams. She continues to look around, but she's alone with Nurse Hatchet.

"K-Katrina?" she calls in worry. Her voice breaks as she reaches her hand out to the older Vega sister. "What's wrong, dearie?" she questions again. She's a broken record isn't she?

"She can't hear me, Trina," the voice reminds her. "I'm in your head and I'm never going away."

"That voice!" Trina cries out. "It won't leave me alone! Nothing it says is true!" She clings to Nurse Hatchet's dress. "It's not true…"

"It _is_ true!" the voice screams in its deafening whisper. "You're gonna die alone!" Trina starts to hyperventilate and releases Nurse Hatchet. She quickly dives down onto her cot and places the pillow over her head.

Nurse Hatchet looks at her in awe. How do you respond to a nut-job like Trina Vega? Finally she settles with:

"Who are you talking to, Katrina? We're the only ones around."

Trina throws the pillow to the ground and looks at Nurse Hatchet dead in the eye. "Don't you lie to me!" she screams. "Someone's following me! First it started with Robbie's stupid puppet and now this! Why can't people just leave me alone?" Nurse Hatchet raises an eyebrow. "Puppet?" she repeats. It sounds different with her prevalent accent. "What's this about a puppet?"

Trina gasps and clings to Nurse Hatchet once more. "It attacked me!" she cries. "When I was at my locker, Robbie's stupid puppet attacked me and tried to bite me!" Nurse Hatchet puts her hands on Trina's and slowly takes them away. "I think you should go home and get some rest, Katrina," she diagnoses. "You seem to be under a lot of stress and it's causing you to see and hear what isn't there. I'll call your mother to come get you so she can take you home."

Trina nods slowly. "Home," she repeats quietly. "Home…"

Maybe there she won't be harassed.

_~*Ten minutes later*~_

Not long after Nurse Hatchet's call, Holly Vega arrives to pick up her oldest daughter and carry her away to the safety of their home. Trina needs to get what she left behind in her classroom though. The bell rings as Trina makes her way to class, and the students quickly file out in blurbs of people.

Tori sees her mother's head above the throng of students and distorts Jade's face in confusion. "Mom?" she calls out.

{She's forgotten who she is}

Mrs. Vega looks around, not recognizing the voice but thinking it called to her. Tori/Jade quickly ducks back into the crowd.

[Holly doesn't know Jade by face or name]

Tori's forced to watch in silence over the heads of the other students as her mother walks away with a hunched over Trina at her side. But then…something trips Trina and she falls to the ground, spilling everything into her bag on the floor.

Then she screams.

Surrounders start to scream and gasp in shock as they watch. Few pull their phones out to record the scene once more. Social sites will be _very_ busy today…

Tori/Jade pushes past the students to see them all circled around her mother as she tries to pull a small, blonde figure from Trina's back. Trina, too, tries to swipe it away as it pulls at her hair and snaps its wooden teeth at her. Tori recognizes it as the dummy that tried to steal her body!

"Get it off me!" Trina screams, thrashing about desperately. The dummy lets out a God-awful hissing noise. "Shut up and die!" she commands. "We can't let you live!"

.:No one knows what to believe:.

Tori runs up to the dummy in Jade's body and helps her mother pull the female dummy from Trina. When Tori throws the dummy at a nearby set of lockers, everyone backs away in fright, unsure of what's going to happen next.

Slowly, the dummy rises to her feet and turns to face Tori/Jade. Pieces of her face have broken away like porcelain, revealing muscle tissue and pieces of her cheek bones. Parts of her lips have fallen away, revealing half of her jagged teeth.

"You broke my face!" she howls.

A few girls—including Mrs. Vega—scream at the top of their lungs and Trina backs away in silent, terrified fear. Tori, though, stands Jade's ground even as the dummy lunges for her. Luckily, she's faster than the dummy and kicks it into a nearby wall. This time, nothing gets broken.

The dummy is, however, left unconscious…

Moving deathly slow, the students circle the dummy so they can get an idea of what the hell it is. Again, Tori/Jade pushes past the students and grabs the dummy by her neck.

Beck appears amongst the heads of those curious cats and stops once he sees the unconscious dummy in Jade's hands. Without a word, he snatches it from her and backs away, running to Tori's car.

Tori/Jade stays behind.

"Are you alright, Trina?" she asks in fear as she rushes to her sister's side. She hugs Trina tightly and Trina doesn't refuse.

Mrs. Vega places her hand on Jade's shoulder. "Do you know what that _thing_ was and _why_ it wanted to hurt my daughter?" she questions. Her face is full of worry lines and unbridled fear. Tori shakes Jade's head slowly. "No," she lies, refusing to look at her mother.

Trina snaps from her shock and pulls away from Tori. "Liar!" she accuses. "You know what it was! You _wanted_ it to attack me!" Pain flashes across Jade's face as Tori feels that pang of hurt. "I didn't, I swear!" she denies with convincing eyes. "I'm sorry for what I said to you, Trina!"

Oh God…

This is the first time Jade has ever apologized for _anything_…

…even if it isn't Jade apologizing…

Trina looks away from Tori/Jade; she can't believe her… "You're lying," she states. She moves to her mother and stands beside her, still refusing to look. "Trina, please," Tori/Jade begs. It's weird to hear Jade begging…

She goes to move to Trina, but Mrs. Vega stands in the way. "I don't know who you are," she says in a low tone, "But you're making Katrina upset. Don't you ever come near her again, do I make myself clear?"

Tori never once mentioned Jade, even when they'd gotten in trouble at school for fighting. Before today, Jade never existed to Holly Vega. But even though those words were directed toward Jade, they stung Tori deeper than any pain imaginable.

Her own mother couldn't see through the eyes of another to know that her youngest daughter was locked away behind a stranger's eyes. Even worse, her mother—the very person who'd given her life—threatened her to stay away!

Pain sears through Tori as she watches her mother and sister turn their backs on her. She stands there with tears falling as the students slowly disperse with hundreds of whispers. She stands there as, Robbie/André, Jade/Cat, Matthew, and Cat/Tori run up to her. She stands there as they distantly ask what's wrong and she stands there as Beck returns to find her upset. The world is non-existent…

"…don't know what's wrong with her," Cat/Tori explains to Beck. A flurry of emotions speeds through Tori before finally settling on anger. She bolts from her spot around her friends and runs to her car. Her friends aren't far behind and calling her name.

Tori kicks the trunk in the lower left by the tail-light and it pops open. She grabs Rex and the blonde dummy and smashes their faces together, hearing a _clink_ and a _thud_ in the process. "I hate you both!" she screams. "You two are _ruining_ my life!"

She slams the dummies down into the trunk and they let out pained screams. Rex, however, lets out a weak and pained laugh as he looks up to Tori/Jade. "We didn't do anything," he assures her cockily. "Everything you've done…everything you've said…it was all on you. Whatever pain and mischief you've caused is simply your fault and the fault of your friends. All we wanted…was a little leg room…"

Tori/Jade lets out an angry shriek and reaches for the tire iron in the trunk. She lifts it high above Jade's head and brings it down on Rex. Blood spurts onto Jade's face, but that doesn't stop Tori. If Beck hadn't stopped her, she would have continued to beat him until his face was nothing but bloody pieces.

"Don't," he orders as he keeps his grip tight on her wrist. "Don't do anything to them until we get you back to normal. Tori/Jade struggles in his grasp. "Why?" she spits. "So I can give them more chances to destroy us?"

Beck stands still…

He wants to let her destroy the dummies—hell he wants to do it right along with her—but he knows somewhere deep inside that that's a bad thing; he knows it would be wrong to kill them, even though they'd tried to take him and his friends over.

"Just don't," he whispers in her ear. He places his hand on her stomach, breathes in her scent. "Don't…"

Tori lets out a scream of frustration and throws the tire iron far into the parking lot before slamming the trunk shut. Beck grabs her and pulls her from the car, turning her against his chest. They only stand, not saying a word. But standing there with him, Tori feels a certain…emotion. No, she feels a disarray of them. She doesn't, however, feel pregnant; she doesn't feel anything; she feels empty…

But then she feels the splitting pain in Jade's head.

She pushes from Beck and Jade's hands shoot to her head. Tori lets out a loud scream and falls to the ground. "Get out of my head!" she shouts violently. Her voice is deep, unnatural, and scarier.

Jade's head begins to shake violently and at an unrealistic speed. "I can't!" Tori screams in her own voice as Jade's head shakes and her body writhes on the ground. "I'll die without you!"

"I don't care," the demonic voice booms. "_Get out_!"

Wicked laughter radiates from the trunk of Tori's Volkswagen, followed by a hacking, wet cough. "It's already happening!" Rex exclaims with a bitter joy. He coughs again, loud enough for there to be blood.

"We were supposed to have more time!" Cat/Tori exclaims. She runs to her convulsing friend and scoops her up in her arms, holding her tightly. "Sorry, sugar!" Rex calls out. "But it looks like little Tori won't make it!"

"Everyone get in the car!" Beck orders loudly. "We've got to get Trina and get her over to Robbie's!" He turns around. "Where's André?" Jade/Cat turns around then back to Beck. "Matt went to go get them," she answers. "He shouldn't be too long."

A few seconds later, Matthew emerges with André and Elyse running behind him. Beck and the girls are already in the car by the time they arrive. After some situating, the three squeeze into the car and the seven drive off to Tori's house. Jade/Cat sits in the front seat with Beck while Cat/Tori sits in Robbie/André's lap, Matthew sits beside Robbie, Elyse sits in André/Robbie's lap, and Tori/Jade lays stretched across the backseat.

Everyone but Beck and André watch as Tori and Jade fight inside Jade's body. With all the screaming and thrashing and convulsing, Cat can barely hold on…

Once at Tori's house, Robbie/Andre's arms replace Cat/Tori's and she runs inside. She runs past her mother and the dogs straight to Trina's room. She bursts through Trina's door and frightens the older Vega. "Trina!" she exclaims breathlessly. Tori's chest heaves rapidly. "You have to come with us!"

Trina sits up on her bed. "Us?" she repeats. Then the realization hits her. "No!" she screams in terror. "I won't go back there! You can't make me!" She quickly hides under the covers.

Desperate for help, Cat tries to think of a way to get Trina to come with her. "D…don't do it for us," she says as her voice evens out, "Do it for your sister." Slowly, Trina's eyes rise above the covers. "What's wrong with Tori?" she inquires.

Cat slowly walks her to Trina's bed and sits down on the bed. "Right now she's in her car fighting with Jade over who gets control of Jade's body," she explains barely above a whisper. "Both are resisting each other and if Tori doesn't get back in her own body really soon, she's going to die."

Trina gasps and clings to her covers…

Earlier she vowed she'd be different, kind, loving. Loving meant helping your family when they were in trouble, even if they didn't like you. Right now a lot of love is needed…

Trina puts aside her disdain for Tori and her friends and climbs from the bed. She knows she needs to save her sister. She grabs Cat by Tori's wrist and runs back outside, neither girl paying attention to Mrs. Vega calling out to them.

The nine of them race against time to save the girls in Jade's body.


	8. Remorse

Dedicated to Maddi

* * *

><p>"<strong>Chapter 8-Remorse"<strong>

The world moves around Tori in a quiet blur as she fights with Jade's body. She sees everything through Jade's eyes—Beck driving to her house, Cat bringing back her sister, speeding to Robbie's house—but she can't do anything about it. Tori can't move as everyone but André tries to help Jade's body inside. She can't even feel the hands that grabbed at her and tried to stop her convulsing.

[She _does_ feel the disdain radiating from André as he refuses to acknowledge her]

"Get out of my body!" Jade's dark voice shouts. She starts to seize, but the others keep a tight grip on her. "No!" Tori pleads in her own voice. "I don't want to die! Just give me more time!"

.:You can bargain with the _**Devil**_, not _**Jade**_:.

Jade's body shakes with an unnatural violence before going limp in the arms of her friends. "What's happening?" Jade/Cat questions in a panic. "Why'd she stop moving?"

{She only cares about _her_ body}

All eyes—except for André's and Elyse's—turn to Matthew, looking for an answer. It's a little sexist that they think the _wizard_ knows more than the **witch**.

"I-I don't know!" Matthew lies frantically. "This has never happened before…"

Elyse rolls her eyes at his lie. He knows exactly what's happening; this isn't the first time this has happened. Back in 1970, they'd been down this road before: the spell had been messed up and bodies ended up where they weren't supposed to be—back when this magic was still relatively new to them. When Rex had messed up, the six victims ended up in different bodies. Rex didn't know how to fix this predicament, so he waited. One by one they started to fall. Their eyes would roll into the back of their heads and time would run out.

The fights for control took place on the inner battlefields.

Everyone throws frantic words at each other, but Tori doesn't hear them. Instead, Jade drags Tori down deep into the pit of her mind.

(Jade's head ain't no picnic…)

This is a new world, a dark and terrifying world where pain floats in the air and dances on your skin before it swallows you whole. Tori stands tall, looking for something. Maybe she's looking for Jade, or maybe she's looking for a way out.

She finds Jade alright, but not the Jade she was looking for. She sees a child-like Jade, maybe six or seven, with her hair light brown and barely reaching her shoulders. She looks at Tori, but then Jade's father materializes beside the girl. He looks as old and broken as he is now. Jade's mother stands with him, her hands on her pregnant belly. Jade looks a lot like her mother…

{They have the same devastating frown}

Jade's father reaches out to her mother and pulls her roughly by the neck. He strikes her across the face and her mouth opens in a scream, but no sound is heard.

The scene resets, but Jade is a little older now and her hair is longer. Her mother's hair is shorter now, tucked away in a tight bun. Her stomach is flat and she holds a tiny hand in her own. A small blonde girl, maybe three years old, stands by a five year old Jade. Her father still looks the same with his cropped hair and bloodshot eyes. Slowly his finger runs up Jade's shoulder and she clenches her eyes shut. She grabs the girl's—Juliette's—hand and squeezes it tightly. She can see a tear fall from Jade's eye as a bruise starts to form under her father's hand and strips of her clothing fall to the ground, melting into air before it touch the ground.

Again the scene resets and everyone is a little older except for Mr. West. Mrs. West has bruises all over her face, but she slowly starts to fade away until Tori can't see her anymore. Juliette's a little taller now, near a ten-year old Jade's height, but she sits clinging to her knees with bruises and cuts on her forehead. Jade stands close to her father and Tori can see Jade has more bruises than Juliette does. Mr. West raises his hand and brings it down across Jade's face, knocking her to the floor.

Juliette disappears as the scene resets for the final time and now Jade looks her true age. Jade lays on the ground—or whatever this floor is—and her father stands towering over her. The faces of young teenage boys surround Jade and kneel beside her one by one, disappearing as quickly as they appeared. But one face doesn't disappear…

Beck reaches out to Jade and brushes a lock of her hair off her battered and tear-stained face. She looks up to him and slowly climbs to hold him. Her father looks down on them both, and Beck slowly looks up to him. He rises to his feet with his arms wrapped around Jade's waist and eyes Mr. West intently.

Neither Jade nor Beck moves as Mr. West raises his fist to them. He swings for them, but his fist stops just in front of Beck's face. A blinding white spark flies with a glittering smash. Mr. West's hand begins to break off like glass, but it doesn't stop him. He continues to attack Beck and Jade, causing the blinding sparks each time and more of his fist and arm to break away. With his last attempt, his body starts to break once the blinding spark flashes. Tori watches in utter shock as Mr. West's body starts to crack with a deafening noise. His body quickly falls apart like glittering black crystals that disappear before it hits the ground.

As the final crystal falls to the ground, the scene changes one last time.

Jade sits like Juliette once did, with her knees to her chest and her head down. Her skin is bare, only clothed with gashes and bruises. She's crying softly, her short brown hair falling around her.

"Jade?" she calls softly. The smaller girl doesn't respond and Tori inches closer.

"You have to get out," Jade whispers quietly. Her voice is her own yet filled with sadness and desperation. Tori inches closer once more. "I'm trying," she assures Jade in a soft voice. "I'm trying to leave so you can have your body back. You just…you need to give me more time…"

In a flash, a present day Jade stands before Tori with her eyes glowing deep red and her hair flying wildly around her face. "No more time!" she bellows in her deep, demonic voice. "You can't stay!" But then…her form twitches and she's back on the ground in her childlike state.

"You shouldn't feel the pain…"

Tori sighs softly and kneels beside Jade. "I know you're worried about me," she starts quietly, "And I know you're worried about our friends. But I'm okay; we all are. Sure, there are a few things I don't like about your personality, but I can handle living your life. I'm okay, Jade, so you have to quit fighting with me. You have to stop fighting me so I can help our friends put us back in our right bodies."

Jade looks up at Tori with pleading eyes. Her face flickers between her childlike state and her older state before she speaks. "Promise?" she whispers gently. Tori gently laces her fingers into Jade's hand and smiles warmly. "I promise," she whispers back.

A blinding light flashes before the darkness takes over…

_~*Meanwhile*~_

"Everyone get in a circle!" Matthew barks.

"There isn't much time left!"

Everyone scrambles into Robbie's room and finds their way into a circle, placing Jade where she needs to be. Jade/Cat directs everyone where they need to sit while Matthew stands off to the side and Elyse sits on Robbie's bed with her legs crossed and her fingers tapping on her knee.

{She's too bored to function otherwise}

Matthew looks to Cat/Tori once everything has settled down. "You have the amulet right?" he questions. She nods gently and pulls it from under Tori's collar before handing it to him. Matthew takes the amulet and stands by Robbie's closet. He takes in a deep breath before beginning the chant.

"_Écoutez-moi les esprits_…_Écoutez mon cri…Mal a détruit quelque chose une fois pauvre…le retour de ces âmes à leur corps une fois de plus_…"

The ground begins to shake and Jade's body begins to convulse violently. Soon everyone's body in the circle—aside from Beck and Trina of course—starts to convulse as the lights begin to flicker on and off. The lights go out…

…and all is quiet…

Soon deep panting rises among the nine in the room, then the lights slowly come back on. Cat is the first to speak.

"It worked!" she exclaims happily with her own voice and her own lips. Four other voices start celebrating the fact that they're all in their rightful bodies, but the sixth doesn't celebrate. As everyone else feels their skin, pulls at their hair to check the colors, and sings a few—off key—notes, one girl makes no sounds or movements.

Jade's body still lies on the floor, but she doesn't move. Her chest rises and falls deathly slow—almost unnoticeable—and a small pool of blood stains her jeans.

"Jade," Matthew gasps. He runs to her and reaches for her wrist, desperately searching for her pulse. He knew this would happen, but he didn't know it would scare him so terribly. He fears how slow her pulse is…

"Someone, call 911!" he demands. Jumping at the shock of the situation, everyone reaches for their phones, but Tori is the first to reach salvation. The paramedics arrive five minutes later to whisk Jade away to the hospital. Matthew and Cat ride with her in the back of the ambulance while everyone else piles into Tori's Volkswagen to meet them at the hospital.

_~*At the hospital*~_

It's a cold and sterile place, a hospital. The hallways are filled with bright white lights and sick people. The ghost of sadness and death likes to linger in a hospital and make itself known.

[This place is Jade's only hope]

It's been an hour since they wheeled her in all bloody and unconscious (bloody unconscious). Cat was the only one allowed to be in the room during the operation and that was because she lied and said she was Jade's sister; Jade's real sister didn't even know Jade was in the hospital.

After the operation and other procedures, the doctors allow Cat to stay with Jade while she rests. Eventually, Cat is allowed to tell the others they can see Jade as she wakes. The group—except for Trina who's talking with a very hot intern—decides to let Matthew go first.

After all, he _is_ her new boy toy.

He walks into the room just as Jade's eyes flutter open. "Hey," she greets with a weak smile. "Hey, yourself," he returns with an equally weak smile. He slowly makes her way to her and grabs her hand to kiss it lightly. "I'm sorry about what happened," he breathes.

Jade sighs and turns her head from him. "It was probably for the best," she admits quietly. "I don't think I could handle a child right now." Matthew sighs as he sits on the side of the bed, looking away from her yet still holding her hand.

He opens his mouth to speak when another visitor interrupts.

Elyse runs into the room and hugs Jade tightly. "Oh, gosh!" she exclaims. "I had no clue you were pregnant. Then again, how could I? But then again, I'm still sorry. If I would have known I would've told you this would happen." She laughs in spite of herself, even as she's talking a mile a minute. "Oh, but what am I talking about? I'm sure Mattie's already told you!"

Jade feels Matthew's body stiffen on her bed and he refuses to look at her. She gently pushes Elyse away and tightens her grip on Matthew's hand. "You _knew_ I'd have a miscarriage?" she questions accusingly. Her voice isn't angry, no, it's pained and hurt and utterly betrayed.

(Uh oh…)

Matthew hesitates before speaking now that the cat's out of the bag. "Yeah," he whispers, "I knew…" He turns to her with saddened eyes. "But you have to understand I couldn't tell you, especially with the body you were in. I desperately wanted to tell you that first night, but I didn't know how." He takes both of her hands in both of his and holds them against his lips. "I'm so sorry, Jade," he breathes. "I never meant to hurt you…"

.:But she's not buying it:.

Jade snatches her hands away from Matthew and rolls onto her side, putting her back to him. "Just get out," she orders quietly. The hurt in her voice practically cuts him like a knife. "Jade _please_," he begs softly.

"_I said get out_!" she shrieks.

Matthew jumps from the strength of her voice and dashes out of the room. Elyse stands there though, looking extremely guilty. "Do…do you want me to go too?" she questions with a shaking voice. Jade sighs softly. "Could you tell Cat to come in, please?" she requests. "I really need to talk to her right now." Elyse nods with a small smile, glad Jade isn't mad with her, and bounces out of the room.

She returns to the waiting room to find everyone sitting around with a phone or magazine in hand, but Matthew has his head in his hands and Trina's got her hands all over the hot intern with his lips locked on hers.

"Hey Cat," Elyse calls. Cat looks up from her catalogue to Elyse who's nodding her head in the other direction. "Jade says she wants to talk to you alone." Cat smiles and puts her magazine down and skips off to Jade's room.

Elyse takes Cat's spot between André and Robbie. She leans over to André while Robbie's occupied with texting a few girls André convinced into giving out their numbers. "Hey, André," she breathes against his ear with a seductive smile. His muscles stiffen and his eyes widen. "H-hey," he stutters back. He doesn't know why, but he's still nervous around Elyse.

Elyse circles her finger on André's arm as she speaks. "Why don't you and I go sit outside for a while?" she suggests as she speaks slowly. "It's so depressing in here…" André can feel the sweat forming on his palms. "O…okay," he says. With an accomplished smirk, Elyse grabs André by the hand and runs with him out of the hospital.

Tori watches them as they leave…

She feels a large pang of jealousy bubbling within her. She remembers how André didn't lift a finger to help her when she needed it, though he claimed he loved her. She feels jealous and hurt, but doesn't say anything. After all, why should she? She's got Beck and he's the one she wanted. Jade moved on, so why should she be upset over André moving on? Jade and Beck had been dating for at least three years, twice as long as she and André did.

[You can't have your cake and eat it too]

Elyse and André make their way to a bench in front of the hospital. She giggles as they sit down. "Your hands are sweaty," she tells him. André looks down at her hand in his and laughs nervously. "Sorry," he apologizes. "I-I'm just a little nervous." Elyse smiles warmly. "What's there to be nervous about?" she questions as she rests her head on his shoulder. "I'm just another girl who used to be a dummy that was once a witch."

André gulps. "M-maybe that's why I'm so nervous," he lies. Elyse chuckles to herself. "You're afraid I'll hurt you?" she inquires in a calm voice. He doesn't respond, so Elyse leans up and kisses him on the cheek. The mere touch drives him crazy. "I don't have my powers," she assures him quietly. She smirks sexily and scoots closer to him. "Besides," she begins innocently, "_Why_ would I want to hurt someone as hot as you?"

André's breath hitches and his eyes widen slightly. She thinks I'm hot? She's…she's into me? Holy crap! He gives her a questioning look, though she doesn't see it. "Y-you think I'm hot?" he clarifies.

Elyse lifts her head from his shoulder and puts her free hand on his cheek. She leans in and plants a small kiss on his lips, life shooting through their bodies. She pulls away from him and looks at him through her lashes.

"Does that answer your question?"

André nods, slightly dazed. All he can think about is his lips on hers, her sweet raspberry flavor… He can't think of anything else and he can't even speak. So instead of speaking, André leans back into her and kisses her again. Elyse doesn't refuse, especially when his hand slides onto her hip and pulls her into his lap.

{No place like a hospital for PDA}

While André and Elyse had their little love affair, Cat made her way to Jade's hospital room with a warm, loving, sisterly smile. She knocks on the doorframe and Jade rolls onto her other side.

"Hey," she greets with a small smile.

"Does it feel good to be in your own body again?" Cat asks with her big grin. Jade sighs softly. "I'd feel better if I was still pregnant," she replies sadly. Cat frowns and walks to her best friend, kneeling beside the bed and hugging her tightly. "I'm so sorry about the baby," she apologizes. Then she smiles widely. "But you can always make another one with Matthew!"

Jade frowns at Cat's optimism. "I don't think we're going to be talking for a while," she states tiredly. Cat gasps loudly. "Why?" she questions loudly, clinging to Jade's arm. "You two were so cute together!" Jade closes her eyes and takes in a deep breath. "Well what do you do if you really like someone," she begins, "But they keep something really important from you, and then you find it out from someone else?"

Cat laughs softly with her wide, toothy grin. "You give him a big hug!" she exclaims. Jade raises an eyebrow in return. "A big hug?" she repeats. "Why would I do that? And how do you know I'm talking about a 'him?'" The little redhead smiles softly and taps Jade's nose gently. "I'm not stupid, silly," she says. "I know you're talking about Matthew. But whatever really important thing Matthew didn't tell you, he probably kept it a secret because he really likes you and didn't want to hurt you. It's like this one time, my brother broke my favorite doll and he didn't tell me for a week because he knew I'd get really, really upset about it; of course I was upset when he told me, but I would have been _crushed_ if he'd told me earlier. Because I spent a whole week thinking I'd lost her, I got used to the idea and it didn't hurt as much when my brother told me what really happened."

Jade genuinely smiles at her best friend; even before the body switch, Cat was really good for advice. That's part of the reason she and Jade are such good friends.

.:You all know Jade's got problems:.

"You're such a good friend, Cat," she breathes. Cat smiles and twitches her nose. "That's because I love you, silly," she admits. A small awkward silence follows…then: "As a sister, silly head!"

Both girls laugh softly.

Once the laughter settles down, Jade reaches her hand to Cat's cheek and pulls her into a soft, gentle kiss. The kiss is brief, but says more than words ever could. After the kiss, Jade puts her forehead to Cat's and breathes against her lips with her eyes closed. "I can't love you like you want me to love you," she breathes out. Her breath is cool against Cat's lips, "But I'll always love you as my sister."

Cat smiles and pulls away from Jade to look her deep in the eyes. "I know that," she confesses. "And I'm okay with that. When I was in Tori's body, I realized I shouldn't ask for more. Besides, I realized that I really, really, _really_ like Robbie."

Jade laughs loudly, something she hasn't done in years, and hugs her best friend tightly. "I knew you two belonged together," she announces. She holds Cat at arm's length and smirks. "Now go get him!"

Cat winks dramatically. "Kay, kay!" she exclaims, bouncing out of the room. Everyone smiles to her once she returns to the waiting room and she smiles back to her. "She says you can all go in now," Cat announces. Beck, Tori, Robbie, and Matthew all stand up to go. Trina is the last to rise because she has to take a while to let go of her hot intern's hand and give him a small kiss with a warm smile. He waves goodbye to her and she follows Beck, Matthew, and Tori to Jade's room.

Robbie, however, won't be making it there.

Cat steps in front of him and places a finger on his chest with a seductive smirk. "Can I talk to you for a sec?"

"Uh…s-sure," Robbie stutters out with nervous, wondering eyes. They stand there for a moment as Cat looks into his eyes, neither of them saying a word as they listen to each other breathe. Soon the world around them disappears. There is no hospital, no doctors or frantic nurses, no sick patients, and no worried families.

There are only them.

Slowly, her hands reach up to his face and she slides off his glasses. She wraps her arms around his neck, holding his glasses tightly behind his head, and he wraps his arms around her waist. She starts to lean in, but he closes the distance and kisses her intensely. His lips dance against hers and she feels a new safety in his arms.

[It's a sin to **break **this kiss]

Robbie places his forehead against Cat's, his nose against hers, and breathes out softly to catch his breath. "I've liked you for a long time, Cat," he whispers. She smiles with her eyes closed. "I've liked you for a long time, too," she returns. He plants a small kiss on her lips. "I should have told you earlier," he says. He kisses her again. "You mean the world to me."

Cat giggles her signature giggle and rests her head between Robbie's shoulder and neck. He places his chin on the top of her head and just holds her tightly and sighing contently.

{They're _destiny_…}

Tori is the first to reach Jade's room with Beck right behind her and Matthew trailing with Trina. Lying on her side, Jade takes in a deep breath and smiles warmly to all of them with tired eyes. Tori steps forward and pulls a black chrysanthemum from behind her back. "I know it's your favorite," she says. "I know your mother used to get them for you." Jade takes the chrysanthemum and smells it with a nostalgic smile before placing it on the nearby table.

"Thank you," she breathes out.

Beck approaches our bedridden beauty and kneels beside her, holding her hand in one of his. "I know how much the baby meant to you," he says softly. He kisses her forehead and gently rubs her cheek. "I'm so sorry."

Jade pulls away from him and puts a finger to his lips. "You don't have to be sorry," she tells him. "This is for the best. I would have loved that baby with all my heart, but I have my whole life ahead of me. It's so much better that I lost the baby early on instead of eight months down the road anyway." She knows being a teenage mother won't be the best for her child.

Matthew stands by the door, refusing to make Jade angry by being around her. It isn't until Trina walks in the room and stands by her sister that Jade notices him. She looks past Beck and holds her hand out expectantly. "Matthew," she calls softly, "Come here, please?"

Beck moves out of the way and slowly Matthew takes his place (just like he's been doing for the last half of this story). Jade takes one of his hands and, with her free hand, grabs the nape of his neck. She leans up into him and kisses him deeply, passionately, and forgivingly.

"I understand why you didn't tell me," she says, answering his unasked questions. "You did it because you really like me." Matthew smirks and kisses her gently. "I love you," he whispers. Jade gasps softly; she never thought she'd hear those words from anyone but Beck.

She never knew she'd want to say those words to anyone but Beck.

"I love you too…"

So yeah, Beck's not too happy about Jade's new beau, but he knows as he stands there with his arm wrapped around Tori's waist that Jade could truly be happy. Now he would be happy too, and he would give Tori all the love she would ask for.


	9. Epilogue

Dedicated to Maddi

* * *

><p>"<strong>Epilogue"<strong>

Jade is released from the hospital a few hours later. Matthew goes home with her, despite the prying questions of her father. Elyse goes home with Cat, taking up one of the many guest bedrooms in Cat's home. Eventually everyone falls back into their normal rhythms back at school.

(I now present the graduating class of 2013)

After graduation, Jade packs her things [and Juliette] and helps Matthew put up the money for a small house big enough for three. After college and Juliette moves out with her own boyfriend, Matthew and Jade attend their high school reunion where he proposes to her. They marry three months after and spend a wonderful honeymoon in Mexico. Nine months later Jade gives birth to a beautiful, healthy baby girl.

She still keeps in touch with all of her old friends, especially Cat.

Like Jade and Matthew, Cat and Robbie end up going to the same college where Cat majors in vocal techniques and Robbie majors in filmography. She quickly rises to fame and teenage girls everywhere idol her. Robbie makes a few blockbusters along the way and even forms his own international band where he's the drummer. Cat, however, proposes to Robbie; she takes his hand in hers, looks him in the eye, and asks him to marry her. Of course he says yes. They quickly become a loving family with the adoption of two children and the birth of their twins. Cat names one of her daughters Victoria after Tori and Robbie names one of their sons André after André.

Beck and Tori stay together through high school, but take a break when they find they're accepted to different colleges; Beck finds his place in New York while Tori knows home is where the heart is. They both become famous; he an actor and she an actress, but they don't see each other until their high school reunion. The spark returns for only a moment, but it isn't until a year later they rekindle their fire onset.

He plans to propose to her on her twenty-ninth birthday.

From the moment they both laid eyes on each other, André and Elyse were inseparable. André doesn't go to college because—thanks to Cat's good words—he's picked up by Shady Records as a singer/songwriter. He quickly climbs to success in order to start his own production company. His money puts Elyse through college and he proposes her sophomore year. At their high school reunion, she's pregnant with their first child—a true blessing from God or whatever. Years later they're blessed again with their second child.

Trina keeps to her word and actually becomes a nicer person. She graduates from her class as prom queen and goes to college to major in social studies with a minor in animal medicine. She marries the hot intern—Kyle—two years after graduating college. She now runs a social service business that takes unfortunate children out of destructive houses and places them into loving homes. She personally takes the children to their new homes so she can see their smiling faces as they meet their new families.

She's made the most of her life.

That day at the hospital, though, Rex and his little female friend may or may not have escaped Tori's car. The other three dummies also may or may not have escaped Robbie's closet.

You may or may not see them again.


End file.
